I'm really not sure how to read this one, but it's certainly a shocker.  The AP is reporting that the Washington Redskins will name recently hired offensive coordinator Jim Zorn to be their new head coach.

This is beyond baffling.  In his 20 years of coaching experience, Zorn has never held a position higher than quarterbacks coach.  The Redskins, by my count, either interviewed or put out feelers out to eleven different candidates (Zorn, Jim Mora Jr., Jim Fassel, Steve Spagnuolo, Gregg Williams, Ron Meeks, Steve Mariucci, Al Saunders, Jim Schwartz, Russ Grimm, Pete Carroll...and that's not counting the ever-present Bill Cowher speculation).  And this is the best they could do?

Hiring Zorn probably says more about the organization than it does about him.  Everyone speculated during the hiring process that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder was extending the interviews just to get some additional publicity throughout the Super Bowl week proceedings.  Well, it probably said more about the desire of the candidates to actually take the job, and frankly, who could blame them?  Zorn will become the fifth head coach in the Snyder era (six if you count interim coach Terry Robiskie), and the feeling always seems to be that the owner wants to inject himself more into running the team than he should.

What's interesting is how this move was made without any indication of what was coming.  Anyone who had even a casual knowledge of the search knew that, several weeks ago, when news outlets started to report that Fassel was the leading candidate to get the job, it was a rumor floated by the club to get a handle on how the fan base would react to it.  When the fans overwhelimngly voiced their displeasure over the idea, Fassel's name disappeared overnight from the search.  With Zorn, there wasn't so much as a hint in the press that anything was about to occur.

The 2008 Redskins should be an even more talented group than the previous edition, and they've got a chance on paper to be a major player in the NFL playoff picture.  They probably ought to be led by a coach with significant NFL experience, at least at the coordinator level.  Instead, they'll have to make do with Zorn.  Wonder why that needs to be?