Zorn for Seahawks QB coach?

by Kittrick on Jan 28, 2011 9:35 AM PST

He was let go from the Ravens recently. I really liked him when he was in Seattle under Holmgren, although his training methods were unorthodox, they seemed to work with Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace. Why can't he seem to get along with anyone after he left Seattle? Was it because he got a taste of what it was to be a head coach with the Redskins? Regardless, I hope Carroll brings him into replace Jedd Fisch.

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Jim Zorn is the only Seahawk I ever had a chance to meet and get to know a little bit and I can say with certainty that he is just a great guy and has the right type of attitude for any team.

Not sure he ever had “Head Coach” qualities, but I would certainly be happy to see him come back as the QBs coach.

by Kenneth Arthur on Jan 28, 2011 11:39 AM PST reply actions

Jim Zorn's only success as a coach is being around while Holmgren developed Hasselbeck.

I know Hasselbeck has talked about how Zorn helped him but the guy’s resume is not exactly impressive.

by Nate Dogg on Jan 28, 2011 12:54 PM PST reply actions

So Holmgren can develop a QB but not a QB coach

And Hasselbeck does not know what he is talking about.

by eohawkfan on Jan 28, 2011 1:36 PM PST up reply actions

Or: Hasselbeck developed, Zorn was his coach, people are inclined to assume a causal relationship (Hasselbeck included), but in a larger sample, Zorn has not shown an ability to repeat that success.

by John Morgan on Jan 28, 2011 1:52 PM PST up reply actions

And Holmgren's history of highly effective offenses and quarterback development makes me wonder about the extent of Zorn's contributions.

by Nate Dogg on Jan 28, 2011 2:09 PM PST up reply actions

How much do people think positional coaches influence team/player success?

I think the HC/OC/DC are all very involved in successes and failures of players as they design schemes/call plays for them and set them up for success/failure. Positional coaches though I just seem to equate to a baseball manager. Yeah, they might have some tips or insight, but what effect do they really have? I’m sure there’s some, but I just believe it has to be marginal at best.

by SgtSasquatch on Jan 28, 2011 2:18 PM PST up reply actions

I'm convinced those are more motivational roles.

Its all about good mentors at those positional coaching roles, if the dude can uplift the players and the players respect their opinions then they are valuable assets.

"C'mon somebody!" T-pain

by IMIN4LIFE on Jan 28, 2011 2:40 PM PST up reply actions

What QB's did Holmgren develop?

He had Favre and Hasselbeck. I would not say Favre really developed as much as just throwing wildly down field. And how do we know if Matt development was Holmgren or Zorn. They both came to the Seahawks in 2001.

by eohawkfan on Jan 28, 2011 4:18 PM PST up reply actions

Matt and Zorn came in 2001

by eohawkfan on Jan 28, 2011 4:19 PM PST up reply actions

He worked with Montana, Young, Favre, Brunell, and Hasselbeck.

Hell, even Seneca developed into a decent back up which was pretty impressive in it’s own right.

by Nate Dogg on Jan 28, 2011 4:27 PM PST up reply actions

Dilfer was his most successful in Holmgren's offense.

by Nate Dogg on Jan 28, 2011 4:31 PM PST up reply actions

So as a QB coach he made Montana, Young, and Brunell better.

But Zorn gets no credit for anything he did as a QB coach

by eohawkfan on Jan 28, 2011 5:18 PM PST up reply actions

Statisticly Joe Flacco had his best year under Zorn

by eohawkfan on Jan 28, 2011 5:21 PM PST up reply actions

And then was fired.

Holmgren was the head coach while he had Brunell. You can give Zorn as much or as little credit as you want, I’m just skeptical.

by Nate Dogg on Jan 28, 2011 5:30 PM PST up reply actions

Rumor is that Flacco liked Zorn

but the other coaches didn’t like his “methods” (whatever that means).

by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Jan 28, 2011 9:59 PM PST up reply actions

Not just a rumor, he came out and said it.

He’s pissed the Z-man got dumped.

Cake for me too, please.

by shams on Jan 29, 2011 10:55 PM PST up reply actions

Yep

He isn’t happy at all

by stufr on Jan 30, 2011 4:26 AM PST up reply actions

From the Baltimore Sun--

Headline, “”http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-ravens-flacco-0130-20110129,0,2646623.story" >Flacco takes Zorn’s firing personally."

Bottom line, it was a West Coast vs Vertical Passing Game philosophy difference.

What’s strange through, is that Zorn WAS vertical passing as a player, and became west coast as a coach…

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw

by Tyler Jorgensen on Jan 30, 2011 11:47 AM PST up reply actions

Nice catch.

Interesting double standard there.

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw

by Tyler Jorgensen on Jan 28, 2011 8:28 PM PST up reply actions

It's hardly a double standard.

Zorn has worked with several quarterbacks and has one success story, Holmgren has worked with many quarterbacks and has several success stories.

by Nate Dogg on Jan 29, 2011 1:21 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs

And theres still the part of the argument that John mentioned.

by Nate Dogg on Jan 29, 2011 1:24 AM PST up reply actions

not to mention

Holmgrens one of the best qb coaches of all time. If I were in a room with Picasso and a great work of art was created, I wonder if I could take credit if my title was “head artist?”

by plyka on Jan 28, 2011 11:21 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

NO MORE SENTIMENTAL SIGNINGS

I like Zorn but it’s time to move on.

Fire Gus "What's a screen?" Bradley.

by SSreporters on Jan 28, 2011 3:24 PM PST reply actions

Move on?

I don’t know if there needs to be a ‘refreshing’ QB coach, when we’re starting from ground zero. Especially now where we’re discussing the merits of a QB coach’s contributions. No QB coach should get us too excited, but then hiring someone that may not be a first thought shouldn’t be too much of a disappointment either.

by Stay Off the Flowers on Jan 28, 2011 3:40 PM PST up reply actions

There's no proof either way that Hasselbeck's success can or cannot be attributed to Zorn

And on a sheer guess I side with Hasselbeck’s success not being mostly attributed to Zorn.

This sounds stupid but I don’t think I want a single person — player or coach — from Super Bowl XL on the next team. At a minimum not one of them should be starting. Hill should go, Tats might go, Tru probably stays but his future is questionable, Spencer is the only one I’d like to see stay but I don’t know if Cable will keep him, Terrill HAS to go….find someone else who can block kicks, Hasselbeck should go, and definitely Sean Locklear. I really think Babs is on the bubble for 2011 but he isn’t a starter anyway.

I’m just tired of clinging to the past and the thought of bringing back Zorn just doesn’t sit well with me.

Fire Gus "What's a screen?" Bradley.

by SSreporters on Jan 28, 2011 4:04 PM PST up reply actions

Agree

by TXHawkfan on Jan 28, 2011 5:15 PM PST up reply actions

this guy

Gets it ^

by plyka on Jan 28, 2011 11:23 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

Yes it sounds stupid

This sounds stupid but I don’t think I want a single person — player or coach — from Super Bowl XL on the next team. At a minimum not one of them should be starting.

Evalutate each player and coach for what they contribute to the team.
They shouldn’t stay because they were on that team, but they definitely shouldn’t go because of it. Really it should start over each season, only using prior years as an indicator of future performance. Making decisions based on arbitrary thoughts like, I don’t want to live in the past anymore, are juvenile and bad process.

by stufr on Jan 29, 2011 5:09 AM PST up reply actions

Everyone I mentioned was on the SB team and they happened to contribute this year

And through evaluation only Spencer is worth keeping and he’s a FA.

Fire Gus "What's a screen?" Bradley.

by SSreporters on Jan 29, 2011 9:35 AM PST up reply actions

I completely agree

I also think that Zorn was a good QB coach, or it appears that he was from a fan point of view. Its always tough to tell from a fans point of view the impact of a position coach.
I just didn’t like the absolute reasoning.

by stufr on Jan 29, 2011 10:14 AM PST up reply actions

I pretty much agree.

I don’t really care either way if Zorn comes back, but this team has to stop hanging on to mediocre, aging players. As far as Babs and Terrill go, they were already cut last year, so they probably signed one year contracts to come back and are probably gone after this pathetic showing. Babs probably doomed himself with his atrocious play in Chicago.

I mean shit, look who’s coaching our DB’s. Kris Richards. Hey, maybe he can coach better than he can play, but….yeah.

SomaFM got me through college.

by Wayward Llama on Jan 29, 2011 6:18 AM PST up reply actions

The Seahawks don't hang on to older players

anymore than other teams. It’s not like we’re near the top of the league in average age and it’s also not like we mostly start older players over younger players when there’s a choice.

Tampa Bay did great this year but that is certainly not typical of the league’s youngest team.

by BurtonOerney on Feb 2, 2011 6:17 PM PST up reply actions

Slip N' slide anyone?

by Seahawksfan23 on Jan 28, 2011 3:45 PM PST reply actions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfGZsPLDkY8

Brilliant!

by hawksfan1401 on Jan 29, 2011 4:52 AM PST up reply actions

Next time, link below the subject line.

In the body. Then we can watch it more easily.

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw

by Tyler Jorgensen on Jan 29, 2011 6:19 PM PST up reply actions

From the article in the FanShots about Zorn's firing:

“Zorn was dismissed after a seven-hour meeting with coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, The Baltimore Sun reported”

It took them seven fucking hours to tell him he was fired?? Were they trying to coax him into quitting to avoid paying unemployment? Don’t they know he’s not an hourly worker?

Then again, Zorn is an all-time nice guy, so maybe they just wanted to delay his departure a bit to enjoy his company a little more.

by mkries on Jan 28, 2011 10:52 PM PST reply actions

too bad for Zorn

He got fired late. I have no idea if Carroll would even be interested in him, but in general he’ll probably be cooling his heels in 2011. Ravens offense is stale. Play not to lose means losing in the playoffs. I doubt that will change in 2011 – OC is still there.
Zorn has value. He’ll be back in the league if that is what he wants. His Redskins, with overrated talent and no QB went 8 n 8, 4 n 12, and then savior Shanahan comes in and pulls – 6 n 10. Huh. I guess John Elway is retired?

by Jon Springer on Jan 29, 2011 1:08 AM PST up reply actions

Yeah, I'm extremely surprised the Ravens retained Cam Cameron after another lukewarm offensive showing.

They have an amazing defense, a very solid offensive line, and two extremely capable ball carriers in Ray Rice and LeRon McClain. Then the receiving corps: Mason, Houshmanzedah, Boldin, Stallworth.

Yeah, fire the QB coach. I’m sure that’s why that offense isn’t clicking.

SomaFM got me through college.

by Wayward Llama on Jan 29, 2011 6:13 AM PST up reply actions

Everywere Zorn has coached QB play has improved.

Charley Batch, Matt, Senaca, Joe Flacco. Jason Campbell looked good enough John Morgan wrote post about why the Seahawks should trade for him.
In his 3rd year as Head Coach/Gm QB guru Mike Holmgren brought Zorn back to Seattle to be his QB coach. Zorn was a very mechanically sound passer when he played and it seems he has been able to teach this to players he has coached.

by eohawkfan on Jan 29, 2011 10:53 AM PST reply actions