Loverro: There’s a lot to like about this switch

Vinny Cerrato left the building, and Bubba Tyer was in the building. All this was good news for Washington Redskins fans.

“Bubba Tyer’s in the house,” Bruce Allen, the club’s new executive vice president of football operations and general manager and the son of former Redskins coaching icon George Allen, declared at a news conference Thursday.

Acknowledging the former Redskins trainer, a longtime fixture, Allen grinned and said, “Hello, Bubba.”

And with that, Allen probably won over Redskins fans just as simply as Jim Zorn angered them when he referred to the team’s “maroon and black” colors upon his introduction nearly two years ago.

It was a you-had-me-at-hello kind of moment.

Hours earlier, Cerrato, the departed executive vice president of football operations, gave fans one last example of what made him such a despised and polarizing figure.

In his resignation statement, Cerrato basically declared Jim Zorn dead to him.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great coaches, such as Joe Gibbs, Greg Blache and Sherman Lewis,” Cerrato said.

No mention of the coach he hired - Zorn.

The loss of such a petty, insecure man instantly made the Redskins a better organization.

And the presence of the likable Allen, who seems very much connected to the passion of Redskins fans, might make the franchise better - depending on who his dance partner is.

“If you told me 35 years ago I’d be standing here in new Redskins Park, I don’t think I would have bet on that,” Allen said. “But it’s exciting because of the history, the tradition, the comfort about coming home. What makes it a good fit is I want to be in a place with tradition. The fact that I can recite most of the media guide to you probably made it even more exciting.”

If we take owner Dan Snyder at his word - Allen, he says, has the authority to make the football decisions, always a source of contention under Snyder - the Redskins accomplished at least one thing Thursday: The club now will face only the normal roadblocks to success.

Allen’s arrival and Cerrato’s departure might make fans feel better, but his presence is no guarantee the franchise will rise above the mediocrity in which it has wallowed for 10 years now.

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