By Les Carpenter and Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 1, 2008

PHOENIX, Jan. 31 -- Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent said Thursday that Jim Zorn, his friend and former teammate with the Seattle Seahawks, will be moving into his Redskins Park office early next week to begin the process of installing the West Coast offense, even if the team still hasn't hired a head coach.

"The one great attribute Jim has is that he is not very emotional," Largent said. "He never gets too high or too low. He maintains an even keel."

This is important in helping to develop a quarterback, Largent said. When current Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck came to Seattle in 2001, the same year Zorn was hired as the team's quarterbacks coach, the passer was very emotional, Largent said. It was Zorn, he said, who was able to finally calm Hasselbeck, though it took many months.

One of the things that attracted Zorn to the job, Largent said, was that the Redskins promised he could serve a dual role as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Those two jobs often are broken up, but Zorn wants to maintain that connection with his quarterback, especially with someone so young and raw as Jason Campbell.

The group formed to promote diversity in hiring at all levels of the NFL, the Fritz Pollard Alliance, is lobbying for the Redskins to hire Ron Meeks, the only African American candidate interviewed by the team.

"We heard the interview went extremely well, and we applaud Dan Snyder and the Redskins for being so thorough," said Cyrus Mehri, a Washington lawyer whose efforts, along with those of the late Johnnie Cochran, led to the formation of the group. "We think Ron Meeks would be a great fit with the Redskins and would help pull the team together and the entire city together."

Richard Berthelsen, general counsel of the players' union, said a ruling by U.S. District Judge David S. Doty in a case involving suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is expected soon. Doty heard the union's appeal of an arbitrator's ruling that could clear the way for the Falcons to retrieve nearly $20 million in bonus money from Vick.