None of this is scientifically done. The last place I'd start is here, with the majority of an insignificant sampling size saying: I still don't know what the shit is going on. I've now read more than one media commenter proclaim without hesitation that Zorn's hiring to head coach will be met by Redskins fans with a majority of apprehension -- and that has certainly been the reaction by most bloggers -- but perhaps that simply reflects the general perception of Redskins fans as overwhelmingly grumpy types that like to shoot Dr. Z emails about how much of a giant asshole he is for taking so long to vote Art Monk into the Hall of Fame. I don't know if that perception is justified whatsoever, but there's reason to doubt the conclusion; the polls I'd pay attention to to gauge the typical Redskins fan response have showed approval as the norm. Per Extreme Skins for instance:
Yes -- Makes me Zorny, I'm ok with it, it's interesting, no problem with it. 1984 78.92%
No - Furious, we're a joke, this sucks, not as bad as it could have been. 530 21.08%
57.1%
I'll take a wait-and-see approach
24.7%
I love the move...Good choice
18.2%
Honestly, I don't like it
Total Votes: 18596
Finally, this Adam Schein article at Fox Sports is loaded with polls, though we'll get to them after we flesh out his thoughts on our newest Head Coach. His position cannot be characterized as "wait and see":
And they are right.
It ranks as the single worst hire we've seen in the NFL in years. Zorn has no NFL head coaching experience. He has no NFL coordinator experience. He was plucked by meddlesome owner Daniel Snyder to be the offensive coordinator a few weeks ago. I thought Zorn was a terrible hire as offensive coordinator as he didn't even call the plays in Seattle and his coaching roots under Mike Holmgren are with the West Coast offense, giving young quarterback Jason Campbell his third pro offense to learn and execute.
And obviously he wasn't even on the radar for Washington to be the head coach until Jim Mora pulled out and Steve Spagnuolo smartly avoided Snyder's chaotic situation where you cannot choose your own assistants (and credit the Giants for putting up the cash making Spags the highest paid defensive coordinator in the NFL).
The polls on that same site leap out at me, at least as of this moment, in the somewhat inconsistency of their results. Who will be the best new coach (out of John Harbaugh, Mike Smith, Tony Sparano, and Jim Zorn)? Zorn is 3rd with 22% of the vote. Who inherits the best situation? Zorn is 2nd with 34%. The evidence shows that there's at least one guy who that poll thinks will be a worse new coach (Mike Smith, Atlanta) and at least two that inherit worse situations than Zorn (Smith and Tony Sparano, Miami). And they ask: Who will be the first coach out of a job? Surely either Sparano, who has a worse situation, or especially Smith, who has a worse situation and a smaller percentage of voters thinks will succeed, should be more likely to win on this question. And they answer: Jim Zorn, 66% of respondents, more than all the other three coaches combined.
Which says something about the general state of our front office, at least in the minds of NFL fans that frequent Fox Sports. We're a more favorable coaching situation to inherit than Miami and Atlanta. Jim Zorn is considered to have a more promising future than Mike Smith. Yet there is very little doubt that in spite of these two things, Jim Zorn will be the first shown the door.
For the record, though I found the results inconsistent, and though I think Jim Zorn could very well make a fine head coach and agree that he's entering a more favorable situation than at least Miami and Atlanta and maybe even Baltimore, I ended up voting for him being the first ousted. My general prediction for Zorn's tenure tends to coincide with that of Fox Sports readers: This is not an easy city owner to work for (that's not entirely true, he pays well). I would love to be wrong.