'Medium' the message

Rookie coach heeding advice from Holmgren

By Ryan O'Halloran | Friday, November 21, 2008

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In the days after he was the surprise choice to coach the Washington Redskins, Jim Zorn got sage advice from his previous boss, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.

The message: Be Jim Zorn, not Mike Holmgren.

"Stay true to who you are and don't try to be anybody else," he told Zorn.

Recalling that conversation after practice Wednesday, Zorn leaned to his right and said: "I'm a little off to the side. ... I've been trying to live [Holmgren's advice] out but not make it so obnoxious and weird that I can't be the head coach."

One of those weird-isms has become the coach's chief Zorn-ism this year: "staying medium."

He stressed it after the Week 1 loss against the New York Giants and after each of the Redskins' four consecutive victories. He brought it up after the defeat to the Steelers. And now mired in his first losing streak as a head coach and preparing for a game against one of his coaching mentors, Zorn has stayed resolute.

"He's practicing what he preaches," left guard Pete Kendall said.

Excited about returning to Seattle? Absolutely.

Concerned about the offensive power outage the last two losses? Definitely.

In the dumps about a month of subpar execution by his offense? Hardly.

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