Zorn's Balanced Game Plan

He is careful, though, about the hours he keeps and the manner in which he keeps them. He does not scribble down plays at home as he brushes his teeth. Rather, he steers himself away from football. He pulls out one of his books -- "I'm trying to make it a priority, even during the season," he said -- and reads. Even if it's for 15 minutes, he said it refreshes him.

Zorn wants his staff to stay refreshed, too, so he is careful about mandating hours. He knows the culture of football. In some ways, it bothers him.

"I think we feel guilty," Zorn said. "There's sort of a guilt feeling about paying the right kind of attention to the job [so] that the owner feels comfortable, the assistant coaches feel comfortable, or you feel comfortable about your assistant coaches. Sometimes the assistant coaches, I'll walk by, and they might feel that -- 'Oh, my gosh!' -- they better turn on the video.

"I try not to hold that over them like that. I try to make sure that they do what they have to do, and then they're gone. I don't try to corral them into my schedule."

Zorn's schedule has to do mostly with offense. Though Sherman Smith holds the title of offensive coordinator, Zorn is the play-caller, the true architect. He leaves the defense to Blache, the special teams to Danny Smith. He meets with each of them on Wednesdays to get a feel for what's to come, then again on Sunday mornings, going over everything. In those meetings, Zorn has two objectives: Listen, and ask questions.

"He's going to listen to what I say, and he's going to tell me yes or no, based on what he really believes," Blache said. "He's not going to kind of let you do it and then blame you if it doesn't work out."

During games, Zorn is in contact with Blache about major decisions -- whether to kick an extra point or go for two, whether to punt or try a long field goal, asking whether his defense is up to stopping the opponent, even on a short field, should an aggressive call backfire. But occasionally, an odd sound will crackle into Blache's headset. "I'm sorry," Zorn will say. "We shouldn't have put you in that position."

"Most guys in that top position, they'll kind of be the last man standing," Blache said. "If a bear charges, they're going to put you in front of the bear. I honestly believe that, having been around Jim and having watched him, if a bear charges, he's going to step between me and the bear."

Tonight, Zorn will take to the field, watch his players warm up, exchange pleasantries with whomever he might find in the crowd, and wait for the bear to charge. After half a season, he has built a belief in his players and his coaches that when it does, he will handle it his way.

"I'm not going to change," he said. "Win or lose, I believe in what I'm doing, what we're doing. That's what matters."