Mike Zimmer Reveals He Almost Withdrew His Name From Minnesota’s Coaching Search

When Mike Zimmer was announced as the newest head coach of the Minnesota Vikings there seemed to be a league-wide reaction of “it is about damned time” from just about everyone.

The well-respected and productive defensive coach had been passed up for heading coaching gigs for so many years that the 2014 offseason was nearly the last straw for him.  When a team, presumably the Tennessee Titans, filled their vacancy by passing on Zimmer he said he thought about just giving up on his quest for a head coaching position.

“I almost didn’t go (on the second interview with Minnesota), yeah. I was so disappointed,” Zimmer recently told the media. “It was like, ‘Why even do this?’ It was to that point. I figured I was getting too old. I thought, ‘Forget this.’ ”

Of course, Zimmer ended up being the top choice for the Wilf family and immediately became a guy Minnesota fans are generally excited to see at the helm.

The hope here is that the Vikings are the biggest beneficiaries of the delay Zimmer experienced in trying to climb the NFL coaching ladder.

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