The Washington Redskins brought back a familiar name and dusted off a long-unused title Thursday in a major front office shake-up, the first of many anticipated changes resulting from a losing season.

Bruce Allen, son of late Redskins Hall of Fame coach George Allen, is the team's new general manager. He becomes the first person hired by owner Dan Snyder to hold the GM title, a notable milestone after a decade of various front office arrangements that usually centered around Snyder and good friend Vinny Cerrato.

"It's exciting because of the history, the tradition, the comfort about coming home," said Allen, whose father coached the Redskins from 1971-77 and whose brother has served Virginia as both governor and U.S. Senator.

Out the door goes Cerrato, Snyder's right-hand confidante for most of the past decade and the executive vice president of football operations for the past two seasons. The team announced that Cerrato had resigned, but Snyder made it clear it was not a unilateral decision.

"I think the best way to put it," Snyder said, "is it was time for a change."

And probably not just one. Allen barely had time to get used to wearing his burgundy and gold tie before he was asked about the team's coaching situation. The names of Jon Gruden _ with whom Allen worked in both Oakland and Tampa Bay _ and Mike Shanahan were raised during his introductory news conference.

Allen responded that he had only just had his first meeting with the current coach, Jim Zorn. Zorn's job status is tenuous with the record at 4-9 and three games to play. The Redskins host the rival Giants on Monday night.

"Jim Zorn is our coach," Allen said. "Give us some time to see how our relationship develops."

It's uncertain how much leeway Allen will have to make the final call about the coach or the roster. Neither he nor Snyder would give details of their working agreement, but Snyder indicated that Allen will have more autonomy than some of the owner's previous front office hires.

"Obviously, Bruce has got the authority," Snyder said. "And when he makes a decision, the club makes a decision, it's a Redskins decision. ... I've not been as involved as people may have thought. In terms of the future, obviously we're going to be counting on Bruce to help lead the way."

As for Zorn, he's got three weeks to impress his new boss. He admitted there had been "some difficulties" with Cerrato, who stripped the coach of play-calling duties six games into the season.