In wake of the abrupt conclusion to the second Joe Gibbs era, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder knew he could ill afford to make mistakes in choosing a replacement head coach. His franchise just endured one of the most exhaustive and tragic seasons in NFL history. And to make matters worse, the head honcho and glue of the entire locker room operation, Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, announced the end of his second era as Redskins head coach.

Knowing the utter importance of finding a follow-up to a local legend, Snyder kept Gibbs on-hand as an adviser. In the wake of any perceived bad decision, the most respected man in Washington — debatably more respected than the leading man living in the White House — would be by his side every step of the way.

The search went on for what seemed like ages (33 days, to be exact) but the Skins claim to have their man. Many of us thought it best for the well-being of the franchise to promote someone within the organization. Well, they did. Sort of.

Hired as offensive coordinator two weeks ago and subsequently promoted today (Talk about climbing the corporate ladder at a record pace!), the end result, folks, fans and all those seated “to the left, to the left,” meet: Jim Zorn.

Who exactly is this guy? Glad you asked. Here is a quick rundown of what we know about him:

• He spent the last 6 years (sans the 2 week O-coordinator gig) as quarterbacks coach in Seattle; he comes highly regarded as the man who helped turn Matt Hassleback into a Pro-Bowler.
• He played quarterback in the NFL for Seattle and the two Bays — Green and Tampa.
• Conveniently enough, like his predecessor, Zorn is considered a deeply religious man.

“Continuity” is the key buzzword going into this new Zorn coaching era. He came into his new job thanks to:

1. The kind heart of Snyder
2. The adoring recommendation from Seattle QB Hasselback and;
3. As to fulfill the continuity department, the bulk of Gibbs’ coaching staff remains — that is, if you take away the two recently fired head offensive and defensive minds, Al Saunders and Gregg Williams.

The torch was, essentially, handed from Gibbs to Zorn (with a few dozen hands clawing and grabbing at it from below). In his introductory press conference, Zorn acknowledged how much respect he had for the historic Redskins franchise, including his Hall of Fame predecessor (no pressure!) and how shocked many — including himself — were that he was the answer to a 33-day search:

“I look at these three trophies, it’s quite intimidating, and I know who’s behind this little group here,” Zorn said. “I’m very proud to be standing in an organization that has these and . . . I understand the opportunity I’ve been given. I’m sure there are some surprised people. I know I was surprised to get the opportunity, but I know how hard I’m going to work to earn everyone’s trust and confidence.”

So, Zorn, the keys to Washington’s beloved franchise are in your hands. The potential for the team is large:

• A great young quarterback in Jason Campbell, eager to stop switching coaches and offensive systems and ready to start getting settled in to his own system where he can become comfortable (that way no more backups *cough, cough, Todd Collins… *cough* can slide in and steal his starting position if unforeseen circumstances arise) and prosper.
• A formidable defense who showed in the past 2 years they could be in the top tier of the league.
• A fan base in Washington that is as large as any in the country — and, quite possibly, as crazy dedicated.

With that said, Mr. Zorn, please enjoy your days in the driver’s seat; at the adult’s table; wearing the big boys pants. Coach your little heart out but, whatever you do, don’t screw up!

You wouldn’t like the boss when he’s angry.

Don’t believe me? Just ask Marty Schottenheimer.

Gregg Williams and Al Saunders were given the ol’ heave-ho today.

Now in the Redskins household ex-Seahawks coach Jim Zorn is the new offensive coordinator and veteran defensive coach Greg Blache is the new defensive coordinator.

Remember that continuity we spoke of the other day? Dan Snyder disagrees wholeheartedly.

What is the Redskins front office mindset these days?

Is Jim Fassell really set to become the new head coach of the Washington Redskins? Latest word out of Washington has Fassell as the front-runner, but has yet to be offered the job as successor to the second-coming of the Gibbs era.

And the Washingtonians ask — Really? What happened to the players and coaches all lobbying for continuity and stability? What happened to keeping it within the family, with Gregg Williams?

If Washington owner Daniel Snyder has taught us anything through his 9 years of team ownership, it’s that he is a man who likes to make plenty of noise in the offseason. So if any sign would indicate he has settled down and abandoned his old ways, it is us who are mistaken. Not Danny Boy.

Let’s all step back and reassess the situation in a different mindset: What Would Danny Do?

After the Redskins team withstood tragedy this season with the murder of their best defensive player, safety Sean Taylor, signs indicated Joe Gibbs eyeing re-retirement, ready to hang up his coaching cap and head back to his easy livin’ as full-time NASCAR owner. When this became a reality, it seemed a foregone conclusion Snyder would hand over the reigns to his highly paid defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams. Not so much.

WWDD?

Danny decided to interview Williams — four times — to give him a fair shake at the head coaching job. Apparently Snyder was less-than enamored with the thought of Williams leading his team. After neglecting to offer Williams the job, Snyder began openly flirting with other potential big name coaches (albeit some of them just to go through the motions) — Bill Cowher, Pete Carroll, Ron Meeks, Jim Mora, Jim Caldwell.

As of today, none of the coaches have been signed. That may be Williams’ best hope in the entire process.

But if Fassell is really the front-runner, I remain skeptical of the Redskins’ approach to holding together a very fragile, reeling team after such an exhaustive year. The Redskins players fought through the final stretch of the season and made the playoffs despite all odds against them. It would be a pity to see the unity forged around the team’s recent pain and suffering be lost by way of a complete and total coaching “clean house.”

Inserting an entirely new coaching staff would place an immediate disconnect between the current players and management. New coaches would have a hard time relating to what the team went through last season, how they were able to join together and keep showing up to play every Sunday. The Redskins played tough and, most importantly, together this past season; the least Snyder can do is provide them with some kind of continuity.

Consider it a small reward for the team providing Snyder with one extra game to rake in more dollar$$ for his bottom line.

• Rich Rodriguez ditches his coaching job at West Virginia to head to Michigan.
• Clemens is pissed he was listed in the Mitchell Report. Andy Petitte, however, fessed up to part of his implication to using minor enhancements.
• The New York football Giants lost TE Jeremy Shockey in the 3rd quarter to a leg injury en route to a 22-10 loss to the Washington Redskins.
• Um… Miami won!?!? (not a misprint… wow, I know!) Funny how the Ravens damn-near beat the undefeated Patriots but lose to the defeated Dolphins…
• Tough luck for Syracuse hoops, losing damn near all of their experienced guards due to injury.

• Eugene “Mercury” Morris went on ESPN yesterday to rap about how unstoppable he and his ‘72 Dolphins were. Yes, that’s right, I said “rap.” Just read what I wrote last night. That man has lost his mind.
• Andruw Jones didn’t get the long-term contract he’d hoped for, but instead settled for a shorter, 2 year, $36 million deal from the L.A. Dodgers who were in serious need of making some kind of splash in the offseason to more than just their roster.
• How much energy and emotion can a team muster after having gone through what the Redskins have? The league didn’t bump the game back and the Skins didn’t request a change of schedule, so the Bears are in town for a Thursday night match-up full of heavy hearts.
• Driving to drop off that good ol’ rent check yesterday, I caught Colin Cowherd half-assed backtrack for his wrong and disrespectful words about Sean Taylor’s murder. Steinberg breaks it down with quotes and all very well. It’s absurd how arrogant and one guy with a podium can be… and Cowherd continually keeps his reputation as “polarizing” by saying his wrong assumption of Taylor’s death is just like being wrong on his college pick ‘ems. Absolutely breathtaking.
• Heisman Final Four chosen: Florida’s Tim Tebow, Hawaii’s Colt Brennan, Arkansas’s Darren McFadden and Missouri’s Chase McDaniel. How can we convince the NCAA to turn this into some sort of skills playoff? Misguided argument, you say? Aim for the BCS instead? Done and done.

• Mike Wise draws up an obituary of Sean Taylor (WaPo)
• Fans have set up vigils and tributes for Taylor through the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area.
• LeBron scored 38, dished 13 and added 4 rebounds and 2 blocks on his way to handing the Celtics their second loss of the season with a 109-104 overtime win in Cleveland.
• Ricky Williams’ comeback with the Dolphins is already over.
• Ole Miss will place recently-fired Arkansas coach Houston Nutt in their own recently vacated head coach position.
• The Patriots lost Roosevelt Colvin for the season.

For as much as he meant to the Redskins and football fans, star safety Sean Michael Taylor could have meant much more to his 18-month-old daughter, Jackie. But unfortunately, the life of the 24-year-old father from Miami, Florida was lost today, after suffering from a gunshot wound to the groin, piercing a critical artery — while protecting his family from an intruder.

Like most fans, I can’t pretend to know him outside of what I saw of him on the field, on TV and reports I’ve read. To us, he was “Meast,” (half-man, half-beast) the hard-hitting Pro Bowl safety who sported burgundy and gold every Sunday. We all feel as if we knew him, because he meant something different to us all, but in reality we only knew about him from an arm’s reach — really, not even. In his passing, we realize more of how he was emerging not only as one of the best at his position on the field, but also in his off-the-field position as a father and leader.

According teammates who were close to him, once young Jackie entered his life, Taylor was a changed man. He matured and became even more serious about his job as a football player, but even more serious about his job as a father. He was realizing his potential both at home and on the field.

Tragedies like this can happen to anyone, anytime. Taylor was not out at a club, not staying out late running about; he was in his home in the suburbs, under his own roof, when an intruder burst through his bedroom door and opened fire. In sacrificing his own life, his family’s life was saved.

This is bigger than the game of football. Today, the life of a son, a father and a man with the potential to positively affect lives was in a tragic manner.

Those who want to speculate about Taylor’s past at a time like this should hold off your judgment. From a bird’s eye view we could only see what we read about in the news, and whatever Taylor would allow — and lately he hadn’t allowed much. In his passing, teammates and close friends expose us to a man who was had grown, matured and evolved into a wonderful, respectful, responsible man.

A great American tragedy this is — May he rest in peace.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sean Taylor, Remembered

• YouTube clips of some of his on-the-field highlights.
• A Miami Herald columnist and mother to a former high school teammate of Taylor’s remembers Taylor as “respectful, well-mannered and even soft-spoken.”
• His Wikipedia page, complete with bio.
• Reports on his death: Washington Post | Miami Herald | D.C. Sports Bog
• Jarrett at SVPStyle.com — “What Sean Taylor Means to Black America”

*As I find more links I’ll add them to this listing.

The best place I’ve found so far to keep-up on the situation with Sean Taylor is on Washington Post site at the Redskins Insider Blog with Jason La Canfora. The latest information (as of 3:12 p.m. EST) has Taylor in grim conditions:

Richard Sharpstein, who has represented Sean Taylor in legal matters in the past and is a friend of the family, said moments ago that the player’s life is hanging in the balance in the hospital. Sharpstein, speaking from the hospital, said Taylor is “nonresponsive and unconscious” and the doctors are “worried about a possible brain injury or death.”

Sharpstein, who has been with Taylor’s family at the hospital much of the day, said that there are major worries that Taylor may have lost oxygen to the brain, and that no other procedures are planned for right now. “They’re waiting to see if he comes to,” Sharpstein said. He was shot in the groin/thigh area near the femoral artery and lost copious amounts of blood. He was airlifted to the trauma center and endured several hours of surgery, Sharpstein said.

Taylor is in intensive care, Sharpstein said, and his girlfriend and child were not injured in the attack. Sharpstein said Taylor was sleeping when he heard a noise in the living room. The intruders were at his bedroom and Taylor reached for a machete or other form of knife he keeps nearby in case of emergency, and two shots were fired, with one striking his leg.

“Right now he’s clinging to life and we’re all praying he makes it,” Sharpstein said.

Many fans who read the bad parts of his past are going to jump to conclusions that his dangerous past led to this current incident.

The following from WaPo’s Michael Wilbon during a chat rubbed me the wrong way:

McLean, Va.: Will your opinion of Taylor change if this does not turn out to be a random incident (e.g. home invasion)?

Michael Wilbon: No…People’s opinions are shaped by the way they’ve grown up, the way they see the world, what they know about the world the person in question grew up in, etc. Sean Taylor isn’t the only guy I know who fits his general profile. I’ve known guys like Taylor all my life, grew up with some. They still have shades of gray and shouldn’t be painted in black and white…I know how I feel about Taylor, and this latest news isn’t surprising in the least, not to me. Whether this incident is or isn’t random, Taylor grew up in a violent world, embraced it, claimed it, loved to run in it and refused to divorce himself from it. He ain’t the first and won’t be the last. We have no idea what happened, or if what we know now will be revised later. It’s sad, yes, but hardly surprising.

The comment that “this latest news isn’t surprising in the least, not to me” might be the main part that irks me. I guess Wilbon was never taught to hold premature thoughts and speculations before saying something he can’t take back.

If La Canfora’s information is correct, Taylor was simply trying to protect his family from a robbery attempt. In doing so, his family avoided injury and remain safe, while Taylor’s own life currently hangs in the balance. And all of this is “hardly surprising” to Wilbon? Maybe I am just going on emotions here but Wilbon seems pretty wrong for saying what he did.

At any rate, times like this should remind us of how inconsequential the outcome of a simple sporting event can be.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Taylor and his family during this difficult time.

NCAA 

• The Syracuse Orangemen have yet to master Jim Boeheim’s zone defense, but Jonny Flynn has a good handle on running the point.

NFL

• This is why I hate the Franchise Tag. How would Dwight Freeney feel if he did not sign his new deal with Indianapolis? Because now that he is out for the season, I doubt he would have been able to become the highest paid defensive player in the NFL.
• Washington Redskin safety Sean Taylor will miss the Dallas game Sunday with a sprained knee, T.O. exhales… Can it get any worse for the Washington Redskins secondary? All I know is Gibbs better get his play calling together.

MLB

• Josh Beckett lost the Cy Young Award to C. C. Sebathia, but at least the Bo Sox get to open the season in Tokyo. See Boston you can’t win everything!
• Jose Posada decides not to follow Torre out west, but what about Mariano Rivera?

Around the NBA

• I love Stephon Marbury, but what the hell is going on?
• The Miami Heat are almost as bad as the Miami Dolphins…
• The Portland Trailblazers won their first home contest against Rasheed Wallace since his departure to remain undefeated at home. LaMarcus Aldridge scored game high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds (he is averaging 20 & 8), while the bench provided a much needed spark.
• The Washington Wizards look to turn around their season tonight against Jamal Tinsley and the Indiana Pacers.

• Billy Gillespie, welcome to Kentucky! Gardner-Webb upset the No. 20 Wildcats in Lexingon, 84-68.
• On Mike & Mike in the morning, legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula clarified his stance on those cheatin’ Pats, saying “there shouldn’t be any asterisk to it,” if they manage to go undefeated. | Wilbon weighs in.
• The first trade of the Florida GM meetings went down by way of the Houston Astros finally dealing closer Brad Lidge away in a 5-player trade to the Phillies.
• The Celtics shot 65% from the field and led by 39 at halftime, as they rolled on to a 119-93 romp of the Denver Nuggets — dedicating the game to coach Doc Rivers, whose father passed away earlier this week.
• Gilbert Arenas has his knee drained — again — but Wiz coach Eddie Jordan doesn’t seem worried.
• Despite being prone to rookie mistakes, Redskins rookie safety Laron Landry has been impressive so far this season.
• Think the Cavs miss Varajeo now? Donyell Marshall injured his wrist in a collision with Devin Harris, and with Varajeo still M.I.A. holding holding out for a better contract offer, Cleveland will be forced to use a much smaller line-up. I know a certain “soldier” in Cleveland having a heckova football season who may be interested…
• A Q & A with USC football coach Pete Carroll on Stanford, his diminishing coaching staff and the possibility that he is just having a very off season.
• Want to talk smack to Giants TE Jeremy Shockey? His friends will bust you.