1:1 New Skins. More Wins?

Two years ago Joey Gibbs left the Washington Redskins a vacancy in the Head Coach office. Two years ago the Skins felt Jim Zorn was the way of the future bringing with him his West Coast Offense. Two years later, after Zorn’s 12-20 career in Washington and the Redskins’ faithful grieving the worst season in over a decade, the time has come for change. Did it really take this long for Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder to realize change was necessary? Change has been long overdue. Don’t believe me? Check out the Redskins’ season finishes over the past decade. It’s not been pretty, but last year was an embarrassment.


So it seemed the light finally came on for Dan Snyder on December 17, 2009. At that point the team was nearing the end of a disastrous season with a record of 4-9. On December 17, Bruce Allen, the son of former great Redskins coach George Allen, was introduced by Snyder as the new General Manager. This move was made following the resignation of Vinny Cerrato, the former executive vice president of the Skins. Cerrato was blamed by many fans as one of the main members responsible for the team’s disappointing season. Cerrato was the one who fought to bring Jim Zorn in as head coach. Now don’t get me wrong, Zorn was a great guy who was full of class, but he didn’t know how to coach a football team. Bruce Allen was brought in mid-season to evaluate the team and in many ways represented a new era in Washington. I thought it was a good move as Allen has made some pretty good changes to bring back a winning tradition to the franchise.


Jim Zorn. Lot’s of us loved him. Many of us hated him. Whatever the case, all of us knew it was time for him to move on from head coach. Unfortunately, a record of 12-20 isn’t the way to end a two year career. We all remember this play in one of the final games of the 2009 season, a 45-12 thrashing of the Redskins by the New York Giants.



Wow. When your losing 24-0 and you have a chance to put up 3 points with 0:02 seconds left in the half, you gotta put up some points! Do it for the fans! By far, it was voted one of the worst plays run by a team in League History. As pathetic as it was, that play was a summation of the 2009 season for Washington. Poor coaching, poor decisions, poor defense, and poor blocking were the story of the 2009 Washington Redskins.Although it was somewhat bittersweet to see Zorn go, everyone in Washington knew it was the start of a new era, and the beginning of change. Change not only in coaching, but also with players on the field. Mike Shanahan was introduced as Jim Zorn's replacement at Head Coach in early January of 2010. It was the first big addition to the franchise the Redskins would make in the 2010 offseason. It would not be the last.