NFL Black Monday

Remove this Banner Ad

esactly... AS everyone has said, defence won this championship and is hardly dead... I don't expect McDaniel's to get an offer, whose impact was overrated this year...

You think Macca will move from the Pats or be 'groomed' to take over the Pats once BB is gone?
 

Log in to remove this ad.

And Spags had a 10 hour meeting with Snyder (Which he has done with most serious candidates) even after a 90 minutes phone call...

I just think Fassel's is a better choice for the team... I think it was decided before and this is jest a way to look likes it doing all it can... But thats just me ;) (Or a Giant hope :D)
 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the rising star from the Super Bowl out of the running, the Washington Redskins spent Thursday planning their next move.

Will their new coach be Jim Fassel? Ron Meeks? Steve Mariucci?

Or how about another mystery candidate? After all, owner Dan Snyder has kept the process well under wraps since Joe Gibbs resigned Jan. 8. At least two contenders, Fassel and Pete Carroll, weren't known to be on Snyder's list until more than a week after their initial interviews.

And, of course, it was a mystery candidate who got the job four years ago, when Gibbs emerged out of nowhere after Snyder's had higher-profile talks with other prospects.

One certainty is that the next Redskins coach will not be New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who withdrew his name from consideration Thursday, citing his desire to remain with the Super Bowl champions.

"His heart is in New York City," Spagnuolo's agent, Bob LaMonte, told The Associated Press. "He loves the ownership. He loves the players. He feels he has to stay there."

The Giants promptly rewarded Spagnuolo with a three-year, $6 million contract, making the defensive coordinator one of the highest-paid assistants in the league.

Meanwhile, Snyder spent the day conferring with advisers to consider his options following a month's worth of interviews, a person familiar with the selection process told the AP. A decision could be imminent, or the owner might instead arrange follow-up interviews with one or more candidates, the person said. The owner has said he hopes to have a coach in place by the end of the week.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the club has preferred to keep details of its search private.

Spagnuolo became a hot coaching commodity during the Giants' championship run, culminating when his defense stifled the New England Patriots in a 17-14 victory in Sunday's Super Bowl. The 48-year-old coordinator left the Washington area Wednesday night after two days of interviews lasting some 16 hours at Snyder's house, then called Snyder on Thursday morning to withdraw.

"I was happy to have the opportunity to explore that situation," Spagnuolo said in a statement released by the Giants. "But I am equally happy to be staying in New York and look forward to continued success with the Giants."

Spagnuolo has been a coordinator for only one season, and the Giants want to keep him. Also, he wouldn't have had his choice of top assistants with the Redskins because the team already has assembled nearly an entire coaching staff.

Fassel, a former Giants coach, and Meeks, the Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator, voiced approval of Snyder's decision to hire Jim Zorn to run the offense and promote Greg Blache to take charge of the defense. Snyder has met several times with Fassel and Meeks.

Mariucci, a former coach of the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, had one interview last week in Arizona, putting him behind Fassel and Meeks on the list of favorites.

AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan in Newark, N.J., contributed to this report.
Click to expand...

Smart man Spag. :thumbsu:
 
Okay, a weird result....

Zorn gets five-year deal to be Washington's head coach


Feb. 9, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Redskins hired Jim Zorn as their coach Saturday night, a surprise ending to a monthlong search for a replacement for Joe Gibbs.

"I've always dreamed of being a head coach with a franchise rich in tradition like the Redskins," Zorn said in a team news release. "As a player who had to fight Redskins teams at RFK as well as at our home field, I know about the history of this franchise as well as the passion of its fans. I won't let you down."

The Redskins said the 54-year-old Zorn agreed to a five-year contract. He will be introduced at a news conference at 3 p.m. ET Sunday

"We're proud that our search was diligent, thorough, and resulted in today's announcement," owner Dan Snyder said. "Jim's track record and reputation as a player, great teacher, and as a coach makes us confident that they will translate to success for the Redskins."

Zorn, a former Seattle quarterback, was the Seahawks' quarterbacks coach for the last seven years. The Redskins hired him to be their offensive coordinator -- his highest coaching position until now -- on Jan. 26 while continuing their search for a head coach.

Snyder and his advisers settled on Zorn after completing the last of their initial interviews, with New York Giants coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, earlier this week. The owner had to wait until the Super Bowl was played to speak to Spagnuolo, who withdrew from consideration Thursday and signed a new three-year contract with the Giants.

Zorn was one of many candidates interviewed by Snyder in a methodical, secretive process that began after Gibbs' resignation Jan. 8 and included marathon interviews usually conducted at Snyder's home.

Most of the contenders' names eventually became public -- Spagnuolo, Jim Fassel, Steve Mariucci, Jim Mora, Ron Meeks, Pete Carroll, Jim Schwartz as well as Redskins assistant Gregg Williams -- while Zorn's status was supposedly settled once he accepted the job as offensive coordinator.

Zorn becomes the sixth coach under Snyder, who bought the team in 1999, and he ends a string of high-profile coaching hires by an owner who had developed a reputation for hiring top names at a top price. Snyder's last three coaches were Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier and Gibbs. None had a cumulative winning record, although Gibbs took the Redskins to the playoffs in two of his four seasons.

Determined to make the right choice, Snyder was deliberate in his process, conducting exhausting research on each candidate and multiple interviews with several. Meanwhile, he took the unusual step of selecting offensive and defensive coordinators -- hiring Zorn away from the Seahawks and promoting defensive line coach Greg Blache -- before putting a head coach in place.

"We knew of Jim's stellar offensive reputation, so we hired him as coordinator, but we also suspected he would be a strong candidate for head coach," Snyder said. "After our first six-hour interview with him, I told Joe (Gibbs), 'This guy would make a terrific head coach.' But we stayed true to our commitment to interview every candidate."

After Spagnuolo withdrew, Snyder said he called Zorn and told him he was being considered for the head coaching job.

"We spent two days taking Jim through the same interview process as every other candidate," Snyder said. "Those sessions only confirmed my earlier comment to Joe: Jim Zorn will be a terrific head coach."

Although Zorn is essentially making the jump from quarterbacks coach to head coach, Gibbs said the Redskins' veteran assistants will be able to help with the adjustment period. Most of Gibbs' staff has been retained.

"Those guys have been around," Gibbs said from the garage area at Daytona International Speedway, where his team was preparing to compete in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout exhibition race. "So what they did is continuity-wise, they kept the coaching staff and the support group and the training group and everybody, so he's in a real solid (situation)."

Zorn takes over a team that went 9-7, snatching the NFC's final wild card berth on the last weekend of the regular season, before losing to Seattle in the first round of the playoffs. The Redskins have a core of talented players, but there are question marks at several positions that need to be addressed during the offseason. The team is also well above the salary cap, although it has already started to address that problem by opening contract renegotiations with some of its highest-paid players.

The offensive system will undergo an overhaul under Zorn, who is expected to install a version of the West Coast offense. He will also have to sell himself to players who have expressed disappointment that the job didn't go to Williams, the mastermind of the defense for four seasons and the assistant often portrayed as Gibbs' heir apparent. Williams and Snyder had four meetings about the job, but Williams was eventually fired and has since been hired as defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Zorn was a longtime local favorite in Seattle. He was the franchise's original starting quarterback in 1976 and played nine seasons with the team. He returned as an offensive assistant from 1997-98 and again as quarterbacks coach in 2001.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top