Jim Zorn has had a rough few years. Fired by the Redskins after being neutered via the hiring of “consultant” Sherm Lewis, who traded in bingo-calling for play-calling, and then fired after a year with the Ravens as quarterbacks coach, Zorn recently was passed over for a promotion to offensive coordinator in Kansas City after a year as quarterbacks coach.
And while the Chiefs weren’t willing to give Zorn permission to interview with the Bears for a lateral move, they now seem to be resigned to letting him walk away.
“I hope that Jim stays,” Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel said Tuesday, via the Kansas City Star. “I know that any time you’re interviewed for the coordinator job, you have hopes of getting it, and it didn’t work out for him here at this time. But I told Jim that I wanted him to stay and hoped that he would stay. And I expect him to stay. I don’t know what else might happen for him, but if nothing happens for him, then I expect him to be there.”
So where was that vibe last week, when Zorn had an opportunity to interview with the Bears? Though he may not have gotten the job then, he definitely won’t get it now, given that the Bears have hired Jeremy Bates.
The Chiefs had every right to deny Zorn a chance to leave for anything other than a head-coaching job. The fact that they’re now willing to let him go suggests that maybe they want him to go. If, after all, he leaves for another job, he won’t be owed a buyout for the balance of his Chiefs contract.
Besides, new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll may want his own quarterbacks coach, instead of the guy who wanted the job that Daboll now has.