Mike Zimmer Doesn’t Want to Stay Away
By the time the 2022 NFL regular season begins in September, former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer will be 66 years old. But he isn’t ready to depart the NFL, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Indeed, the 72-56-1 (.562) record mentioned by Fowler situated the Vikings as the league’s 10th-best team from 2014 to 2021. Yet, Zimmer could not nudge Minnesota to a Super Bowl, getting close just once in eight seasons. That was 2017, and the stars nearly aligned for a home Super Bowl in Minnesota.
After Zimmer, the Vikings will try youth and offense rather than old-school and defense, presumptively hiring Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell this week. Philosophically, one would be hard-pressed to find two coaches more different than O’Connell and Zimmer.
Regardless, Zimmer isn’t done. Some believed Zimmer would ride off into the sunset, spending more time with family and living the ranch life in Kentucky. Zimmer was obsessed with the Vikings, pouring his soul into the enterprise for eight years. The man was not fired for lack of dedication.
His methods simply ceased success in Minnesota. Zimmer was tapped to lead the Vikings in 2014, in charge of restoring the franchise to defensive supremacy, which he did — in six of his eight seasons. From 2014 to 2019, Minnesota ranked first in the NFL per defensive efficiency, narrowly besting the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots during the timeframe. But then defensive operations soured. From 2020 to 2021, Minnesota defense fell to 23rd in the NFL for defensive efficiency, marking a 1st-to-10th-worst fall from grace in sudden fashion.
Zimmer is unlikely to land a head coaching job — those gigs are filling up by the day — but some defense-needy team will sign on the dotted line with Zimmer. Left to focus on defense and that side of things only, Zimmer can assuredly still excel.
The real “mystery” from Black Monday until the Fowler tweet was Zimmer’s desire. Aside from his former boss Rick Spielman insinuating things went a wee bit pear-shaped down the stretch of Zimmer’s Vikings tenure, Zimmer’s name has largely been absent from the coaching hype machine. However, with the Fowler tweet, it seems Zimmer isn’t ready to stay away from the NFL.
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In his final season with the Cincinnati Bengals (2013), when Zimmer focused on defense-only as defensive coordinator, the Bengals ranked second in the NFL per defensive EPA/Play.
The man is a damn good defensive coordinator. He could very reasonably face the Vikings as an opponent in 2022.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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