Ex-Vikings Coach to Retire
The experiment didn’t work with the Dallas Cowboys, and former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer will likely retire, says ESPN.
Ex-Vikings Coach to Retire
Zimmer served as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 2024, but his boss, Mike McCarthy, did not re-up in Dallas, paving the way for Brian Schottenheimer to earn the head coaching job and leaving Zimmer jobless.
So, he’ll call it quits, according to Ed Werder. “Mike Zimmer tells me that he will not be returning to the Cowboys as a member of Brian Schottenheimer’s coaching staff and will likely retire from coaching in the NFL. Zimmer served as defensive coordinator last season. Cowboys likely to hire Matt Eberflus as DC, per sources,” Werder tweeted on Sunday.
The Cowboys’ defense ranked 28th per EPA/Play on Zimmer’s watch this season, also known as fifth-worst in the NFL.
The 68-year-old recently got engaged, so perhaps his NFL retirement will coincide with that event.
Zimmer head coached Minnesota for eight seasons from 2014 to 2021, responsible for the NFL’s 10th-best record on his watch (72-56-1, .540). The Vikings parted ways with Zimmer and his boss, Rick Spielman, after the 2021 season, paving the way for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell to take over in 2022. The pair boasts the league’s sixth-best record since.
The ex-Vikings skipper also made headlines last August via a scorched earth interview with the Star Tribune. Following his January 2022 termination, the Vikings’ owners, Mark and Zygi Wilf, asked Zimmer if he wished to address his football team — basically to say goodbye, a farewell address. According to Zimmer, he had no interest. “They asked me if I wanted to address the team. And I said, ‘Hell, no. They got me fired!'” Zimmer told the Star Tribune in a tell-all sitdown.
“I can tell you I’ve not watched one Minnesota game since,” Zimmer added.
Zimmer also expressed retrospective befuddlement over Spielman’s selection of quarterback Kellen Mond in the 2021 NFL Draft. “The first round, Rick tried to trade up for Justin Fields, who hasn’t done anything. When he picked Mond, I walked out of the room. I left the building,” Zimmer said.
The Zimmer era started with a bang in the Twin Cities, with the team reaching the postseason thrice in six seasons. Zimmer had widespread approval until the 2020 season, when Minnesota’s mediocre ways, teetering on irreversible losing tendencies, soured his stay.
He bounced around as a college consultant from 2022 to 2023 before latching onto the Cowboys staff as defensive boss.
Zimmer will turn 69 this summer.
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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. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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