Jim Zorn fired by Redskins

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Coach Jim Zorn was fired by the Washington Redskins early today, not long after Sunday’s season-ending 23-20 loss at San Diego.

Zorn went 12-20 over two seasons and went 6-18 after a 6-2 start in 2008. The Redskins had one of the weakest schedules in the NFL this season but still finished only 4-12, their worst record since 1994.

‘The status quo is not acceptable,’ General Manager Bruce Allen said. ‘I felt it was necessary to not waste a moment of time to begin building this team into a winner.’

Zorn’s dismissal had been expected for weeks. The front office stripped him of his play-calling duties in late October, and Dan Snyder interviewed assistant coach Jerry Gray for the job weeks ago, according to the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which monitors minority hiring in the NFL.

Former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is considered the favorite to replace Zorn.

Zorn, who had never previously been a head coach or coordinator in the NFL, wasn’t even on Snyder’s list of candidates when Joe Gibbs retired at the end of the 2007 season. Zorn become a last-minute option when other contenders either showed no interest, dropped out or were deemed unsatisfactory. Snyder initially hired Zorn to be the offensive coordinator, then promoted him to head coach two weeks later after an extensive interview.

-- Houston Mitchell

The Associated Press contributed to this report.