Before the start of the Redskins Beach Blitz, Jim Zorn spoke with The Virginian-Pilot's Bob Molinaro about preparations for his first season as head coach.
What is it about the West Coast offense that you like so much?
It's a tried and true system. It's not magical. It requires attention just like every other offense does. But it's very balanced. I think it poses problems for defensive coaches. Once the players get it, understand the speed, the flexibility and the balance, they will play fast in this West Coast game. It's very quarterback needy. The quarterback has to be able to understand the flexibility of getting the ball to different receivers, not trying to force the ball to one receiver.
Is the Redskins personnel suited to the West Coast offense?
We're probably fullback light, and we're looking at guys to fill that position as a backup to Mike Sellers. We addressed the receiver issue in the draft, but you'd like to have a quarterback that's very mobile. Even though Jason Campbell is 6-6, he's got excellent feet and he can move and get out of the way and make something out of nothing, and that's what I'm hoping he can do during the regular season.
How much of your time is spent working with Campbell?
I am spending a lot of time with him in this offseason to try to get him ready for training camp. In training camp, I will spend a little less time with him because I'll have other responsibilities.
Do you feel the need to rein in Campbell to fit your system?
No, it won't be a process of reining him in, it will be a process of speeding him up. It's not like he was slow, but he was maybe a little more deliberate in decision making, and I want him to move on faster and not wait for a (receiver) who last year he might have waited to come open. But he shouldn't feel rushed. I'm trying to speed him up so that the rhythm is smoother and more efficient.
Will your system make Campbell a better quarterback?
I just cringe answering a question like that, because it might imply that the staff before me failed, and that's not it at all. It really has to do with this particular offensive style. They were a very good football team here, offensively as well. Jason did some great things and the offense worked. We'll have some of the same plays. A lot of people describe the West Coast game as a bunch of little passes. We'll stretch the field. It's not all short passes.
What has surprised you most about the Redskins?
How together the players are. They're all going in the same direction. I think they have a lot of faith in the kind of program Mr. Snyder has been trying to build.
Have you spoken often with Joe Gibbs?
Absolutely. He's busy doing NASCAR, but he's made it perfectly clear that if I need to run something by him, he's very willing to help me in an area where I may not feel like I have the right answer or there are a couple of ways to go and he can give me his opinion.
To what degree will you seek Gibbs' input?
We're at a stage in what we're putting together - we're putting in plays and working on the training camps - where I really don't have to bother him with, you know, would you put this in, would you run this play? Because I really know where we're going here. I'm capable as well.
When you lie awake at night, do you ever wonder if you were ready for the leap from Seattle's quarterback coach to NFL head coach?
Before I got the job, I had always felt that I'd known what the formula was for becoming an offensive coordinator in the National Football League. The thing that always was perplexing is, what is the formula for becoming a head football coach? Because it just seemed to change yearly or by owner. When I became head coach for the Washington Redskins, I think it played true to that thought: that there really isn't one formula. So I don't try to lie awake at night thinking, "Yeah, I had the right formula for it." As you know, the way it happened is a little bit different than the way it happened elsewhere.
Because you've never been a coordinator, some Redskins fans may be worried that, to put it bluntly, you are in a little over your head. What do you say to them?
I haven't felt overwhelmed. I haven't said, 'Oh my gosh, what have I done; I shouldn't be here.'
That's the truth.
Has it hit you yet what kind of pressure you're going to be under?
Remember, you're talking to me in the offseason. My answers kind of seem like, 'Oh, gosh, everything's great, this is fun.' But I understand what's coming, too. That's one of the things that I've expressed to the players. Everything is great now and we're all energized, but there are hard decisions to be made during this football season, because it's just long and difficult.
To achieve playoff status at the end of this year, it takes a lot of sacrifice at the beginning and middle of the year to have a chance to do it in the end.
The proof will be after a loss, after two losses. Are we still together, are there no grumblings, do we understand what we have to do to correct some of the shortcomings?
Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373 or bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com
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