You can file this one under "Prediction of the Decade."
Rarely to you find sportswriters who quickly, and definitively crush a new NFL coaching hire. For one, writers always want to preserve some shred of access in case the guy is good. For another, who the hell knows if a guy can do the job? (I remember distinctly the mocking of Andy Reid when he was hired by Philly. That seems to have worked out pretty well.)
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, authored this column on the Skins hiring of Zorn back in February of 2008. It's so dead on, it reads like he filed the column yesterday from the back seat of Dan Snyder's limo.
Wrote Kawakami....
I talked to Zorn when he was first getting into coaching on the Seahawks staff and I can tell you that, if first impressions mean anything–and they do–I walked away from that interview thinking, This guy shouldn’t be anywhere near an NFL sideline.
He was a very good QB, undoubtedly. But he was known as a non-thinking QB even when he played. Total instinct. He never was considered a coach-candidate.
He took a bunch of years away from football when he retired… then he got back with the Seahawks and apparently became buddy-buddy with Matt Hasselbeck.
But who do you think coaches the QBs, really, in Seattle? Zorn or Mike Holmgren? Come on. The Zorn I talked to was over-emotional, antsy, defensive and very short on the ability to communicate general NFL knowledge–and I was just doing a soft story on the Seahawks during the off-season, so it wasn’t like I was plumbing the depths of intricate analysis.
REACT: Good, gawd. "Over-emotional, antsy, and defensive" are dead on. The phrase "shouldn't be anywhere near a sideline" is chilling. Because he's not just near our sideline, HE'S ON IT!!!
Wow! Talk about dead-on.
ReplyDeleteAnd just as entertaining as the article itself, are the comments posted below the article, by people trying to blow up Kawakami in October and November of last season. An example...
"Redskins are 6-3 now mainly because of the coaching of Zorn. Nice article - moron."
Well since then - as Brian Collins once said - "Oh no..."
Rarely does anyone have the stones to write exactly what they think - this man is yoda.
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to think Snyder needs to hire a GM to run things. A good GM would do a better job of hiring a head coach, etc... . I don't really disagree with this assessment, but the same problem would occur. Just at a higher level. What makes us think Snyder would hire a good GM?
ReplyDeleteHis take on Singletary was dead on.
I was thinking the other day. I was trying to name all the big name free agents on past super bowl champions. I had to go back to Deon Sanders in Dallas. Maybe 15 years ago. Maybe I'm missing someone, but it seems like a sure fire way to not win super bowls is to spend a huge chunk of your salary cap on big name free agents.
And don't pick up locker room cancers like DeAngelo Hall; he was a cancer when he was at Va Tech and I don't see that changing.
ReplyDeleteCzabe:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article & comments left for Kawakami, I noticed two posted from a 'Steve C' (#'s 10 & 11, I think). Was that you taking Kawakami to the woodshed with lines about "speculatory journalism" a year ago? Just curious...
Keep up the great work.