Zim!

Mike Zimmer. I'm still skipping through my days happy with the thought that Mike Zimmer is the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. The team hasn't been in such great coaching hands since Bud Grant was brought out of retirement in 1985. January 15, 2014 was a big day for the Vikings franchise. Mike Zimmer finally got his first chance to coach his team. He should have gotten that chance years ago. The Minnesota Vikings are very lucky that other teams said "No." Zimmer started his football coaching career in 1979 as a defensive assistant at the University of Missouri. He worked with and for Mike Price through the 1980s and into the 1990s at Weber St. and Washington St. He moved to the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL in 1994. He's been the defensive coordinator of the Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, and Cincinnati Bengals since 2000. He's been a "hot" candidate for head coaching jobs for most of the past decade. It takes most "hot" candidates only a couple of years, at most, to get a head coaching shot. He was tired of not getting these jobs. He was about ready to quit trying. Thankfully, he went to one more interview. The Minnesota Vikings have themselves a football coach. Finally.

I can't think of another football coach, that wanted to be a head football coach, that had to wait as much as 35 years for that first shot. This wait was unbelievable. Bruce Arians coached for nearly 40 years before he was hired in 2013 to be the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. It may have taken nearly 40 years for an NFL shot but he had a college shot. Arians was the head coach at Temple for six years in the 1980s. Vince Lombardi had a well-publicized long wait before he was hired in Green Bay. That long wait was 20 years. It feels wrong to say that I'm glad that Mike Zimmer had to wait so long but I am glad. 

It doesn't feel like the Vikings have a first-year coaching staff. Part of that it due to the fact that Mike Zimmer is so ready for this opportunity. He's a veteran NFL coach. He knows what he's doing. He may be as ready for this as any first-year coach in league history. Not much will surprise him. He also brought a very experienced coaching staff with him. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner has been in the coaching business even longer than Zimmer. He's been the head coach of three NFL teams. He's coached Super Bowl champions. Defensive coordinator George Edwards has coached for nearly 25 years and has experience working with Zimmer. He has NFL and college experience as a defensive coordinator. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer has been with Vikings for the past three seasons. He's turned the Vikings special teams from a weakness to a strength. He's been coaching for 20 years. Most of the position coaches have similar coaching experience:

WR: George Stewart: over 30 years coaching, 8 with the Vikings

OL: Jeff Davidson nearly 20 years coaching, 3 with the Vikings

TE: Kevin Stefanski: 8 years with the Vikings

RB: Kirby Wilson: nearly 30 years coaching

DL: Andre Patterson: nearly 25 years coaching

DB: Jerry Gray: 15 years, 8 as a defensive coordinator

Two of the youngest position coaches have a lifetime of being around coaching. Quarterback coach Scott Turner is the son of Norv Turner. Linebacker coach Adam Zimmer is the son of Mike Zimmer. Both paid some NFL dues with teams that didn't employ their fathers. Scott Turner was a college coach from 2002-10. He's been in the NFL ever since. Adam Zimmer has been coaching in the NFL since 2006 after four years at the college level. He was on the staff of the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in 2009. 

The coaching staff of the Minnesota Vikings has the feel of one that has a real firm grasp of what it's doing. It's a very pleasant change.