The reaction from the Kansas City Chiefs fan base on the hiring of Jim Zorn as quarterbacks coach has been mostly positive. That surprised me a little because I thought the average fan may only remember Zorn for his failed stint in Washington. As it turns out, fans are capable of doing a little research themselves and figuring out Zorn has had success as a quarterbacks coach.
The fans like the move but, from what it sounds like, Zorn wasn't the Chiefs first choice. Chris Palmer, hired by the Tennessee Titans on Wednesday, received an offer from the Chiefs earlier this year, which he declined (for reasons unknown).
I'm going to rewind a bit to give the entire story some context.
On February 3, news of Bill Muir's promotion to offensive coordinator got out. ESPN's Chris Mortensen, who broke the story, also said the Chiefs were considering Chris Palmer for quarterbacks coach. Palmer was a UFL head coach in Hartford, and former NFL coach with a long resume. After Mort's report, Palmer's name received no buzz in Kansas City.
February 3 is also the same day Haley suggested the Chiefs weren't done filling out the staff. At that point, Haley could have been talking to Palmer, targeting Zorn, or looking at someone else. We don't know all the names of the candidates involved.
Fast forward to Tuesday and the Titans announced that Palmer was named offensive coordinator. Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant wrote in a story that Palmer was offered assistant coaching jobs in Kansas City and Miami and he turned them both down.
So it sure sounds like Zorn wasn't the Chiefs first choice. That doesn't make it a bad choice, though. Remember, there were rumors making the rounds that the Chiefs hired Charlie Weis only after they tried to hire someone from the Bucs, and that second choice worked out OK.