‘Skins Fire Assistants Williams and Saunders, Head Coaching Position Remains Open

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It was a very busy day at Redskins Park. When Joe Gibbs stepped down as the head coach of the Washington Redskins a couple weeks ago, I felt his replacement was quite possibly already in-house. Or at least a couple good candidates were already in-house — defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and offensive coordinator Al Saunders. Much to my surprise, both coaches were fired today. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, especially considering that Coach Williams had been interviewed for the head position four times recently. So much for keeping continuity on the coaching staff.

Of course, there was a promotion to keep things somewhat intact. As coaches Williams and Saunders depart, D-line coach Greg Blache was upgraded to defensive coordinator. But Jim Zorn, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback coach since 2001, was hired as the new OC. The head coaching vacancy remains open. The next interviews aren’t expected to take place until February 4, the day after the New York Giants and New England Patriots play in the Super Bowl, so team owner Dan Snyder can talk to assistants from the two teams involved. The front-runners? Giants D-coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Now matter how it plays out from here, the Redskins have already been through a lot of changes.

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