The Minnesota Vikings hired Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to be their ninth head coach yesterday. This is the most excited that I've been about a Vikings head coaching hire since Bud Grant came out of retirement following the disastrous 1984 season with Les Steckel in charge. Grant came back for only one season to right a sinking ship. The hope here is that Zimmer is starting a long and very successful career as the Minnesota Vikings head coach.
I grew up with Bud Grant as the Vikings head coach. He seemed to be as much a fixture on the sideline as the horn on the purple helmet of the players. I was reading his new biography I Did It My Way as I waited and hoped for a positive decision on Zimmer. The book brought back all these wonderful Vikings memories. The '70s were such a great decade despite all the Super Bowl losses. Grant was such a fixture that I took him for granted. I could never imagine a Vikings team without him as their coach. It was a shock when he retired following the 1983 season. It was a thrill when he came back a year later. I was more prepared for him to retire after the 1985 season. Passing the torch on to long-time offensive coordinator Jerry Burns was also an easier transition than the harsh switch to Steckel. Grant was such an icon in Minnesota. He was also a terrific football coach. Despite losses in four Super Bowls, Bud Grant was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994. He's still the coaching standard in Minnesota. He still has an office at the Vikings facilities. If Mike Zimmer needs a coaching ear, Bud Grant is sometimes around the building.
It's not that I haven't liked the Vikings choices of coaches since Bud Grant retired for good. I thought that Jerry Burns deserved a shot. When he retired, I liked the choice of Stanford head coach Dennis Green. More than anything, I liked that the Vikings were taking a successful coach from Stanford. That helped Cal. That's always a good thing. When Green was fired about a decade later, I liked that interim coach Mike Tice got his shot without the interim. When Tice was fired, I was on board with the hiring of Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress. The Eagles had an excellent offense going in Philadelphia. They had great success going to four conference championship games and a Super Bowl. I just didn't know much about Childress. Reid called the plays so it was hard to truly judge their offensive coordinator. When Childress was fired, like Tice a few years earlier, Leslie Frazier went from interim coach to head coach. I felt that Frazier deserved a shot. I liked that decision. So, I've liked all the Vikings head coach choices. I just haven't been thrilled with any of them. I'm thrilled with the choice of Mike Zimmer. His defenses have thrived everywhere that he's coached. He has a tremendous reputation throughout the league. If it wasn't for his gruff approach, he likely would have had a head coaching job long ago. Personally, I love his gruff and/or abrasive personality. I love that he's a football coach, first and only. I love that the media may not enjoy him too much. I love that those that appreciate Mike Zimmer the most are his players and seemingly everyone in the coaching community.
It's taken nearly thirty years but I'm once again extremely excited about the Vikings new head coach.
Welcome to Minnesota, Mike Zimmer!
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