The Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins hired Mike Smith and Jim Zorn respectively to be their new head coaches. Neither is a household name and neither seem to address their teams immediate need from a head coach.

The 2007 season was horrible for both of these franchises. Both were effected by a player and coach. The Falcons star player spent more time in a jail cell than on the football field and their coach gave up on them during the middle of the season. On the other hand, the Redskins banned together due to the loss of Sean Taylor during the season, but their Hall of Fame coach retired after the season.

In my opinion, both of these teams needed an experienced head coach that will be immediately respected by the team. The Falcons have so many issues, that gambling on a coordinator that doesn’t have a captivating personality may set them back even further. According to Marcellus Wiley, a former Jags player and current ESPN analyst, Smith didn’t run the defense, Jack Del Rio was the captain that steered the ship. The Redskins, took even more of a gamble. They hired a quarterback coach. Not even a coordinator. Jim Zorn is going from coaching a handful of people to managing a full roster of players. That will be a challenge to say the least. The Redskins are in a lot better shape than they were in prior to Joe Gibbs returning to the sideline, but if this becomes a botched coaching hire, they could immediately return to being a non-playoff team.