Zorn hire follows Eagles’ example

Many scoffed when the Washington Redskins hired Jim Zorn as their coach in February. Replacing Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs with a guy who had never been an NFL coordinator, let alone a head coach on any level? Who was owner Dan Snyder kidding?

In defending their unorthodox move, Snyder and Redskins executive vice president Vinny Cerrato referenced a similar decision by Philadelphia’s brain trust in 1999.

The Eagles hired Andy Reid, whose previous job had been coaching Mike Holmgren’s quarterbacks for two years in Green Bay (after five years as tight ends/assistant offensive line coach), which included an appearance in Super Bowl XXXII. Zorn coached Holmgren’s quarterbacks for seven years in Seattle, including an appearance in Super Bowl XL.

And because Reid’s 93 victories since 2000 (including playoffs) rank third among active NFL coaches, the Eagles’ unconventional choice has worked out well.

“We looked at the whole Holmgren coaching tree,” Cerrato said. “That was a big part of it.”

Reid and Zorn have met only briefly heading into their first matchup Sunday in Philadelphia, but the latter’s 3-1 start has prompted plenty of comparisons, starting with the fact that both coaches run versions of their mentor’s West Coast offense.

“Coaching the quarterback position and playing the quarterback position as Jim did, you have to have a pretty good feel for everything that goes on on the offensive side of the football,” said Reid, a two-time NFL coach of the year. “And you have to make sure that you teach your quarterback everything that goes on on the defensive side of the football, so it allows you to have maybe a little bigger perspective than maybe [coaching] another position would.”

Coaching quarterbacks also allowed Reid and Zorn to get an up-close and personal view of Holmgren, a former quarterbacks coach for late West Coast guru Bill Walsh in San Francisco.

“If you coach under Mike, you had your tail ripped a few times,” Reid said, chuckling.

Holmgren wasn’t quite as tough a boss by the time he hired Zorn in 2001.

“He might have yelled at Andy a little bit more in his heyday,” Zorn said with a laugh. “Mike might have mellowed out. We had a great working relationship. There were some red faces, but I never felt I was beaten down by Mike.”

Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache worked for two seasons with Reid in Green Bay. He said Reid and Zorn are natural head coaches.

“You could see [Andy] had head-coaching ability from the beginning,” Blache said. “He had the work ethic, the drive, the leadership ability. He lived at his desk. He was a smart coach. [Coaching] the quarterbacks put him in the position to be exposed to the play calling of Mike Holmgren to be able to make that move [to head coach].”

Reid said Zorn is doing “a phenomenal job” in light of the Redskins’ challenging early schedule.

“We walked into a buzzsaw in New York like we knew we would, [and we] didn’t handle it as well as we wanted to, but from that point on we’ve rocked and rolled,” Blache said. “I don’t know how you can question what [Jim’s] done on and off the field. He’s got a team believing in themselves. He’s got an offense that’s moving and doing things well. We’re 3-1 in the toughest division. If he had been in the league 10 to 15 years, you would have to take your hat off and say that’s a heck of a job.”