Reports about Mike Zimmer Appear to Be False

Dustin Baker |

Dec 7, 2022

Reports about Mike Zimmer Appear to Be False — Jan 9, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer waves to the crowd after the game against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports.

Mike Zimmer served as an assistant and consultant at Jackson State in 2022, and many believed that he landed a new gig this week.

The Vikings employed Zimmer from 2014 to 2021 as head coach, and the club was the NFL’s 10th-best franchise during the timeframe per wins and losses.

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Zimmer landed with Deion Sanders recently as a defensive hired gun after departing the Vikings, as Sanders was the head coach at Jackson State. But this week, Sanders took a promotion as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. Sanders was 27-5 (.843) at Jackson State.

Dec 20, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer looks on in the second quarter against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports.

Then, after the Sanders-Buffaloes news, the internet media machine speculated that Zimmer would join Colorado as defensive coordinator, which could make the Buffaloes an eventual total powerhouse. The relationship was even reported as fact by some on Twitter.

Mike Zimmer Vikings ex Head Coach will be Deion Sanders defensive coordinator at Colorado after going 12-0 at Jackson State-He gets 💰💰Pay raise and fresh clean drinking water 💦.
— Larry Fitzgerald Sr. (@FitzBeatSr) December 7, 2022

Yet, on Wednesday, the Zimmer development was walked back as premature, and it’s now unlikely that he will join the university.

Regarding the reports of former Vikings HC Mike Zimmer becoming the defensive coordinator at Colorado, I was told that is "not happening" from a source. #cubuffs
— Brian Howell (@BrianHowell33) December 7, 2022

Or if he does, it will have meant multiple folks were wrong in all different directions. We shall see.

With the Vikings, Zimmer restored the franchise to respectability after a rocky period from 2010 to 2013. He engineered the NFL’s fourth-best defense from 2014 to 2021 per EPA/Play en route to two division titles for the Vikings and an NFC Championship appearance in 2017.

Nov 16, 2020; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer. Mandatory Credit: Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports.

Regrettably, Zimmer’s son, Adam, passed away on October 31, 2022. Adam was the Vikings co-defensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021 before venturing to the Cincinnati Bengals for an analyst job last summer.

Colorado’s defense ranks 130th out of 131 teams in 2022 per yards allowed to opponents, meaning Sanders and Zimmer could really turn the program around. However, unless the news cycle changes course — again — the Buffaloes defense will involve Sanders but not Zimmer.

Zimmer will turn 67 in June.

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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).