Jim Zorn is wowed on first day as Redskins coach

ASHBURN, Va. — Always the energetic left-hander, Jim Zorn had an upbeat but nervous start to his coming-out event with the Washington Redskins.

The new coach got the team colors wrong. He paid tribute to an assistant the team recently fired. He lacked the polish of his predecessor, Joe Gibbs, who sat watching from the second row during the news conference Sunday at the team's training facility.

Not too surprising, really, given that Zorn himself said it was nothing short of "miraculous" that he was standing a few feet behind the team's three Super Bowl trophies, making the jump from quarterbacks coach to head coach because none of the candidates on owner Dan Snyder's initial list worked out. The 54-year-old Zorn was taking the first step in finding out what it really means to take such a big job in this town.

"I look at these three trophies," Zorn said, "and it's quite intimidating."

Zorn signed a five-year contract Saturday, with club options for the fourth and fifth years, ending a monthlong coaching search in which he was originally supposed to be an interesting sidebar. ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Zorn's new contract is for about $15 million.

Washington hired Zorn as an offensive coordinator two weeks ago, luring him away from the Seattle Seahawks, then decided late last week to interview him for the head coaching job after New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo withdrew from consideration.

Snyder also interviewed Jim Mora, Jim Fassel, Steve Mariucci, Ron Meeks, Pete Carroll, Jim Schwartz, Washington assistant Gregg Williams and others. Snyder decided to give Zorn a shot because the owner said he had been impressed during Zorn's interview.

Zorn, called to Snyder's house for lunch on Thursday, said he gasped when the owner asked him whether he was interested in the head coaching job.

"I was a bit taken back, if you will," Zorn said. "I wasn't speechless, because my first words were: 'Certainly, I'd like to do that.' "

Zorn, the sixth Washington coach since Snyder bought the team in 1999, realizes he suddenly has a lot of work to do.

He said he plans to hire an offensive coordinator but will work hands-on with the quarterbacks. Quarterback Jason Campbell is the starter, Zorn confirmed.

Of defense, Zorn said: "I'm going to leave that alone" in the hands of defensive coordinator Greg Blache.

In Sunday's news conference, Zorn referred to Washington's colors as "maroon and black" instead of burgundy and gold. He raised a touchy subject when he said the decision to start 10 men on defense in the game following safety Sean Taylor's death was "pretty awesome."

That decision was made without Gibbs' knowledge by Williams, who has since been dismissed. Zorn was quick on his feet, however, when the lights started to malfunction late in the news conference.

"Too much energy going on in this room," he said.

Zorn draws some comparisons to the man he is replacing. Gibbs was a relatively unknown in Washington — he had been an offensive coordinator with the San Diego Chargers — when he was hired in 1981. Of course, Washington would be thrilled if Zorn can achieve even half of what Gibbs did in his first term: four Super Bowl appearances in 12 seasons.