Posted by ESPN.com's Mike McAllister
HONOLULU -- Redskins tight end Chris Cooley was at a dinner party on Tuesday with Matt Hasselbeck. One of the topics of conversation was Jim Zorn, Hasselbeck's former quarterbacks coach in Seattle who took the job as Washington's offensive coordinator two weeks ago.
Little did the two know that by the end of the week, Zorn would be promoted to head coach without having to call a single play in Washington.
Despite their unusual circumstances in naming a new head coach, the Redskins finally have one -- and Cooley's glad the whole process is over.
"It was kind of starting to be weird, where we kept going farther and farther outside in looking for a coach," Cooley said. "I'm happy we got our guy."
And from what Hasselbeck and the other Seahawks at the Pro Bowl have been telling their NFC teammates from Washington this week, Zorn will be easy to play for.
"I'm excited about it," said Redskins offensive tackle Chris Samuels. "Hasselbeck stopped me and told me that [Zorn's] a hustle coach, a great guy."
Long snapper Ethan Albright was told that Zorn excels at communication -- probably a by-product of having spent his playing career as a heady quarterback.
Said Albright: "Some guys are real good up here" -- pointing to his head -- "but they just can't get it out here" -- pointing to his mouth. "Apparently, he's very good at communicating about what he wants you to do."
Hasselbeck noted that Zorn's first NFL coach was Tom Landry, and that he's been working under Mike Holmgren in Seattle. "And there have been a lot of good guys he's worked for in between," Hasselbeck said. "I think he's just ready for the opportunity. ... He's a one-of-a-kind guy."
Cooley knows adjustments will need to be made -- both by the players and by Zorn -- in order to take advantage of a Redskins roster that was good enough to make the playoffs this season.
"Obviously, I'm going to have to change some things to fit what he wants to do," Cooley said. "Hopefully, he'll implement what I do well, and we can have a good mix there."
But the key here is that the mixing can finally start to happen. Cooley was starting to wonder just when the team would name a successor to Joe Gibbs, who retired more than a month ago.
"It was almost becoming comical as far as dealing with the questions of who do you think is going to be the head coach," Cooley said. "The answer was obviously we had no clue. It's all Dan Snyder.
"It's been an interesting month."
Albright, though, didn't mind the wait.
"I'm glad it wasn't a rushed, snap decision," he said. "It seems like they really did due process in finding the best available person for the job."
