We all knew that Jim Zorn was out in Washington, and none of us should be surprised that the team has already made an announcement.

But from a competitive standpoint, I hope that Zorn finds a new job quickly as a QB coach or as a coordinator in the NFL, because he was a victim of the system under Dan Snyder.

Let’s be honest, Zorn never stood a chance. He was given the job by default after being hired as the team’s offensive coordinator. Once the head coaching candidate pool dried up for Snyder, he turned and handed the job over to Zorn. However, he was never really in charge and was constantly under the watch of Snyder and right hand man Vinny Cerrato.

And, coaching in Washington isn’t easy. Not unlike Dallas, you work for a powerful owner who runs the show. Snyder isn’t a rich businessman who watches from the luxury box. Instead, he is an owner who plays GM and coach. And, when the guy who signs your checks makes decisions, well, what can you do as a coach? Exactly nothing. You try to make things work, but as we all said this season, Zorn became nothing more than a figure head on the sidelines, stripped of his play-calling duties in a drama-filled story earlier this season.

Watching him during the Redskins games became painful, and Zorn — the guy we were all over for the Redskins’ struggles in 2008 and the first half of this season — became the victim. We found a soft spot for the guy who was just walking the sidelines watching his team pack it in down the stretch. His power was gone and his respect in the locker room was gone. The players — the big-name players — went above his head and straight to the owner’s office when they had issues.

In reality, Zorn was fired months ago.

Now, we will sit back and watch and take bets on how much Snyder will pay the likely successor to Zorn — Mike Shanahan. As we have said before here at the NFP, this deal has been done for awhile, numbers and all. It will be just a matter of announcing that done deal to the media, and that’s when we will see the big numbers.

Is Shanahan the right guy? We can’t say that now, and it will take an entire offseason to clean up the mess that exists in that locker room and in the front office at Redskins Park. But, what we do know is that Jim Zorn wasn’t the right choice in Washington.

In fact, he never was.

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