What must Jim Zorn accomplish this season to keep his job?

Can people PLEASE stop the Cowher talk??? He's not going to coach here. This man worked for the Rooney's who have one of the best operations going in the NFL. Why would he come and work for Snyder? As for the other guys the only one I could see coming here is Gruden. For the sake of continuity I hope Zorn doesn't get fired, regardless of how the season turns out.

Money.

Let's face the facts. Zorn as long as he improves should stay and this would obviously provide a more comfortable atmosphere for the players to develop in the offensive schemes. Too much change can build resistance and be devastating to any plan. Blache just carried on the prior years defensive scheme and it has kept us in the top 5 defenses for a couple of years now.
In the draft, we went defense to bolster our sack record. Our defense was ranked 4th overall which wasn't so aweful that we needed to address defense so much again this year, but the offensive line which provides a QB time to throw the big plays, or a RB to break the big plays was not really addressed except for a few small additions in free agency. This has put Zorn as a victim of DS and Vinny's ego of wanting notariety with defensive production. You may say that defenses win championships but that is not the entire truth. Without a strong offense to put points up on the board when the defense stalls an opposing offense, you'll still go nowhere and your D will eventually get tired thus giving up points.
The FO (DS and Vinny) have rolled the defensive dice to try and produce the winning edge. They saw other teams that went far into the playoffs and beyond and bought into the grand picture instead of seeing the whole needs in a championship team.

Keep Zorn and develop your players. Also give the offense (LINEMEN) talent to be more productive. The FO did it with the defense so why not the offense if winning is their top priority!

10-6 or going to the playoffs. Also, the offense would have to be in the top half of the NFL. All of these things, barring massive injuries to our team.

I'll go on the record and say that I think Snyder has improved in terms of his willingness to let coaches build/implement their system/brand here with the Skins. We can all thank Joe Gibbs for that. I think that the FO will give Zorn a minimum of 3 years to make this thing work. I believe that Danny is honestly fond of him. We'll see!

I think that DS was rash in firing both Norv and Marty because he wanted a coach that he found more appealing (Marty and then Spurrier).

Norv took the team to the playoffs the year before he was fired when the Skins hosted a wildcard game and lost by only 1 point in the 2nd round. The year he was fired, the Skins lost a lot of close ones.

After making many changes, Marty took the team to an 8-8 record with Tony Banks at QB. The team was clearly on the upswing, but DS was in love with Spurrier.

I'm not a compulsive FO basher. I think Vinny and his staff are capable. I dislike the way in which DS appears to insert himself into personnel decisions.

Fair enough, I think Norv's firing at the time was imminent regardless of Marty. A funny thing about Marty is he had said on air he would never work for Snyder, maybe Danny felt a need for the challenge. As for Marty's firing, I agree that was a low moment, and DS should not have been rash like that. But still both those were early on, and I tend to think he has matured as an owner. Again, the only way we will know is time.

For Jim Zorn to keep his job he MUST show improvement. I'm not saying he needs to win the super bowl, but he needs this team to improve, especially on the offensive end. If we don't average in the 20's point wise -- I think he's gone.

The big names out there will definitely be calling. Unfortunately, I think Snyder would go after Cowher. I simply don't think he's that good of a coach. He had some great teams in Pittsburgh -- he also had some woeful teams. He would be a terrible fit in DC. If we do fire Zorn I would hope for Holmgren (probably wouldn't come after we fire his boy) and Shenehan (I butchered his name, but love him as a coach.)

The team has to show progress. I think his job is safe as long as the team doesn't take a major step backwards. If that happens I think it's safe to assume we could be looking at a new HC and QB next year.

I agree,Cower & Shanahan were with there teams forever,and Green Bay stuck with Holmgren.They all need time,Gruden beat a QB that he coached up.Who knows were we would have gone with Mighty Marty,he certainly changed the culture at the time.I can understand how norv 7 years of bad luck can make it hard to weather the storm.Lets stick with our guy!!!

I hope Zorn can solidify his job this season but if the team regresses then i do think he and JC are gone after the season. If we do go after a new HC i would like to see us go get a OC from N.O or S.D. to fill the spot as HC. both teams are good on offense and do more with less as in terms of talent. Brees is a very good QB but i couldnt name a single WR from the Saints squad yet they led the league in O. and they dont really have a good RB or Oline.

Improvement. A sense that we're on the right track. Competitiveness as a team.

Let's face the facts. Zorn as long as he improves should stay and this would obviously provide a more comfortable atmosphere for the players to develop in the offensive schemes. Too much change can build resistance and be devastating to any plan. Blache just carried on the prior years defensive scheme and it has kept us in the top 5 defenses for a couple of years now.
In the draft, we went defense to bolster our sack record. Our defense was ranked 4th overall which wasn't so aweful that we needed to address defense so much again this year, but the offensive line which provides a QB time to throw the big plays, or a RB to break the big plays was not really addressed except for a few small additions in free agency. This has put Zorn as a victim of DS and Vinny's ego of wanting notariety with defensive production. You may say that defenses win championships but that is not the entire truth. Without a strong offense to put points up on the board when the defense stalls an opposing offense, you'll still go nowhere and your D will eventually get tired thus giving up points.
The FO (DS and Vinny) have rolled the defensive dice to try and produce the winning edge. They saw other teams that went far into the playoffs and beyond and bought into the grand picture instead of seeing the whole needs in a championship team.

Keep Zorn and develop your players. Also give the offense (LINEMEN) talent to be more productive. The FO did it with the defense so why not the offense if winning is their top priority!
Lets see we have CP who was ranked where in the NFL this year? The SB was won with how many points? Now Zorn is a victim? How do you know it was not Zorn giving the final OK to bring in players or who we drafted?