It’s the bye week in Washington and since we’re halfway through another Redskins season, it seems it's time to talk about next year.

Here’s what we know: Head coach Jim Zorn will be fired. There’s very little question about that. Given the rumors that have been coming out of Ashburn in the past few weeks, it’s also very possible de facto GM Vinny Cerrato might be right behind him.

If this happens, this will be the biggest internal overhaul the team has experienced since 2002, when Marty Schottenheimer was shown the door after just one season. While there have been three head coaches since then, the constant has been Cerrato and his lackadaisical attitude toward low-round draft picks and bargain free agents.

This might also be owner Dan Snyder’s last chance with the Redskins fans. Though much of the fanbase is to-the-death loyal, another silly staffing season could lead to a full-scale revolt among the Redskin faithful from which the team might never recover. However, the right choices could potentially bring the team back to its winning ways quite quickly.

I am one of the biggest proponents in hiring good football people and letting them do their job. Anyone who thinks owners should be involved just needs to take a look at the Redskins over past decade under the rule of Snyder for cautionary tales. Despite this, however, there are some moves that I think would be hopeful signs from Redskin Park.

The Head Coach With Total Control Model

There’s long been debates as to which model leads to greater success: the general manager over the head coach, or the head coach who has total control. The simple fact is no rookie head coach is likely to ever get total control over a team’s football operations. If a team’s going with this model, it will be with a veteran head coach.

Save a surprise like Joe Gibbs coming back for round three, there are five experienced Super Bowl-winning head coaches looking for jobs: Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, Brian Billick, and Jon Gruden.

None of the latter three should be given total control over a roster. Holmgren had the power in Seattle and did little with it, having the power stripped a few years into his tenure. Billick and Gruden never had the power, working for strong general managers in Ozzie Newsome and Bruce Allen, respectively. Neither have shown the interest in this, either.

If you believe the rumors, Mike Shanahan has been approached by the Redskins on up to three different occasions, and rebuffed the team each time. If Wade Phillips were to be replaced in Dallas, look for Shanahan to land there with similar power that Bill Parcells had. It would be a better fit to work with Jerry Jones than for Shanahan to get total control over another roster.

That leaves Bill Cowher. John Fox is likely gone in Carolina and look for Cowher, who has been lurking in North Carolina since his retirement, to snatch up that job. If not, don’t expect Cowher in D.C.

With Snyder’s poor reputation for intrusiveness, the Washington job simply can’t look attractive to him. That said, Snyder could simply hand over total control and eight figures a year to Cowher and he might give it a shot. You never know.

But know this: if the team hires a head coach other than Cowher or perhaps Shanahan (or someone like them) and gives them total control, cancel your season tickets.

General Manager Over Head Coach Model

This model is much more common in the NFL and much more likely to be employed during this offseason in Washington. If followed correctly, the team would hire a general manager, then the new GM would, in consultation with the ownership, hire the new head coach.

The new head coach would hire his new staff and the GM would likely purge much of the scouting and personnel staff following the draft and rebuild it with his own staff choices.

Anyone could speculate who would be good in this role, but without actually ever meeting these people, there’s no way to tell who would be a good fit for the job. Baltimore’s Phil Savage looked like a great hire in Cleveland, until it was discovered that he much preferred to do in-person scouting and lacked the political acumen to lead a team.

No matter what, Washington needs to hire someone from a proven winner, someone who can help change the culture of losing in Washington.

One of the team’s greatest problems has been lack of depth and this is due to Cerrato’s poor choices in bargain free agents and lack of long-term planning when it comes to its lower-round draft choices. A new general manager is going to need to execute much better roster management than the team has shown over the past several years.

The clear choice would be to hire someone from the Patriots; given their stellar record in the draft and free agency. However their front office has been largely cleaned out over the past few years, with recent hires in Kansas City and Atlanta. There could be another candidate there, but they may lack the seasoning and may not yet be ready to be handed a team.

Baltimore is another team that has done well with its draft choices. Cleveland has taken its past two general managers from the Ravens, with George Kokinis still in his first year. None have proven successful to date, but someone like college scouting director Eric DeCosta, a long-time Newsome lieutenant, would certainly garner a look.

The Steelers are yet another team with excellent roster management. The team very rarely signs high-priced free agents, eschewing this market and focusing almost all of its resources on the draft. What free agents they do sign are generally bargain-priced role players, some of whom eventually break out. Players generally stay in Pittsburgh once they’re there.

Pittsburgh has a tight-knit “Mom and Pop” operation that is unique in the NFL and brings a culture of confidence that can survive the loss of anyone, including high-priced free agents and even Bill Cowher. They rarely have any turnover as staffers, like players, tend to stay in Pittsburgh once they’re there.

If the team can’t land Cowher, perhaps there is someone inside Pittsburgh that would be willing to give Washington a shot. Kevin Colbert is likely ensconced, but people like Doug Whaley, Ron Hughes, or Mark Gorscak, all long-time Steeler lieutenants, might be good selections.

These three teams have been the most successful with their roster management over the past decade, and their six Super Bowl wins between them since 2000 are the proof in the pudding.

Head Coach

If it’s difficult to come up with a list of general manager candidates from the outside looking in, it’s damn near impossible to choose a head coach.

There are plenty of good coaches who work on teams that aren’t necessarily doing well for a variety of reasons, including bad roster management from on high, tough schedules, a litany of injuries, or just plain bad luck.

But one thing is clear: after the rudderless Jim Zorn years, the team needs to bring in a disciplinarian, a detail-oriented head coach with the leadership skills to grab the locker room right away and win over its veteran leadership.

The head coach/coordinator/position coach model is going the way of the dodo in the NFL. Washington itself has had two of these coaches, Steve Spurrier and Jim Zorn; not exactly names synonymous with winning in the nation’s capital.

Another bad way to go would be to hire a “system” head coach, or a head coach that brings and installs a specific offensive/defensive system. Systems go in and out of vogue in the NFL, and a head coach that is sold on just one way to play football will be out on his ass as soon as someone figures out a way to beat that system.

Instead, the team should hire a head coach who is a general; but a general who will hire both an offensive and defensive coordinator who will bring their own systems with them.

If the head coach is a good fit, this setup will greatly reduce the turnover in Washington, which is what the Redskins need more than anything right now. The most successful head coaches aren’t affiliated with any specific system, and coordinators come and go as different systems rise and fall within the league.

Think of Jeff Fisher in Tennessee, who despite his poor season this year, is the longest tenured head coach in the NFL right now, and how many offensive and defensive coordinators he’s gone through. Cowher had several on both sides in Pittsburgh.

There are any number of candidates who might fit this bill, but the team needs to consider the recent Baltimore head coaching search, when they hired John Harbaugh, a special teams coordinator. Special teams coordinators are detail-oriented disciplinarians by nature, and many go overlooked. The team might find many diamonds in the rough in this area, where the stables of offensive/defensive coordinators may not be as full.

The Roster

Whoever the next leaders of the front office and coaching staffs are, they have a lot of questions ahead of them with regards to the roster.

Washington’s roster is actually fairly talented, but also rapidly aging. Assuming a deal is reached to prevent an uncapped 2010 and the current salary-cap/free agent system stand, the team will face a challenging question: Should the new staff go through a roster purge and start from scratch, or try to use what it has and make a quick push to the playoffs?

One of the greatest reasons to not hire a system head coach is the coaching staff would be better adaptable to the talent that’s already on the team. The staff wouldn’t need to necessarily bring in its “own” people.

The defense is largely talented and should be kept together. Each position has a viable starter and some depth. A coordinator in the Gregg Williams/Jim Johnson mold who would bring a high-pressure man-to-man system could walk in and have success with the squad right away with few changes.

The offense is another story.

Up front, the squad is a complete mess. The offensive line has been neglected for years and opened the season with only four viable starters, two of whom (Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas) are out for the season and likely to retire.

Washington also lacks a viable quarterback and second receiver. Fullback Mike Sellers has seen better days and probably needs to be replaced, as does backup running back Ladell Betts. Clinton Portis, the team’s starter in the backfield, hasn’t looked good this season due to a variety of injuries and a poor line, but could still potentially be a solid starter with an improved team around him.

No matter what, at best, the team only has two starting offensive linemen, a running back, a first and third receiver and a tight end.

Any new front office will have to address the offensive line right off the bat. Depending on what the draft looks like, the team should use a minimum of two and perhaps three or even four draft choices on the offensive line.

With a likely top-10 pick, the team could grab a left-side replacement for Samuels, who, paired with left guard Derrick Dockery and center Casey Rabach, would solidify the left side of the line. A second-round pick at right tackle and a late-round pick at guard combined with a couple of key bargain free agent signings would get this unit back on its feet and solidify it for years.

These moves would likely be unpopular with the fans, since few tend to understand how important the offensive line is and would probably want a quarterback. However, despite recent rookie phenoms like Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan, rookie quarterbacks tend to struggle early and teams still need to acquire veteran backups just in case.

To this end, the new offensive coordinator should bring in the best available veteran to work with his system, and Jason Campbell should be re-signed. Obviously having someone who knows the system from day one would be beneficial to the entire team, even if they aren’t the most talented quarterback around.

Depending on whom you ask, Campbell is either a victim or the anti-Christ in Washington. Most can agree that Campbell has been somewhat short-changed in his tenure, and has shown flashes of ability. Bringing him back on a one or two-year, low-cost deal (which would be all he could get on the open market anyway) is a very low-risk move with a tremendous upside.

Plenty of teams in the NFL, both past and present, have done well with average or even mediocre quarterbacks. If neither QB caught on, the team could snag a signal-caller in the 2011 draft. Don’t forget about Colt Brennan, either.

A couple of bargain-priced free agents should be brought in at running back and wide receiver, respectively. Portis needs some better change of pace backs behind him no matter what, and a mid-round draft choice should be used as a potential replacement. Plenty of backs have come out of mid-to-late round choices and even rookie free agents, including Michael Turner, Terrell Davis, and Willie Parker.

Washington remains down on the dynamic duo of Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly, but seldom do receivers make dramatic impacts in the NFL before their third season. These two should definitely remain on the roster, but a new offensive coordinator needs to bring in a couple more guys who could fit the role as well.

With clear challenges to their jobs and better coaching, maybe the team will see why these two were drafted in the first place. If not, having someone serviceable in the position would be a nice change of pace.

Who the team gets to replace Sellers would be largely dependant on how the new offensive coordinator uses a fullback. Many role players, such as Rock Cartwright and Todd Yoder, may need to be replaced as well.

While those of us who have followed the Redskins under the Cerrato years are unaccustomed to this, there are such things as free agents who can be signed for less than $100 million and often are. These role players often come in and make smaller but immediate impacts in specific need positions. A good roster manager can potentially get many of these players in one strong offseason.

In Closing…

Lost in all the drama of the will-they-or-won’t-they with Jim Zorn and Vinny Cerrato is the deal that this team is only a few players away from being pretty good. A solid defense coupled with four or five new players on offense and strong leadership could get this team on its way again fairly quickly in 2010.

Sound like too much to hope for? Plenty of teams have done more in one offseason, including the recent examples of the Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons, and Baltimore Ravens.

The key here is Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Snyder is entering an offseason quite unlike one he has faced before, when any number of things can happen. We all know that Snyder is a smart and capable business man, but up until now, he’s had a lot to learn about how to run a professional football team.

Here’s hoping he’s learned his lessons from his mistakes.