One year ago today the Minnesota Vikings hired Mike Zimmer as the ninth head coach in franchise history. I thought then and still think now that it was the best coaching decision that the Vikings have made since they brought Bud Grant out of his one-year retirement in 1985. As seven teams wrestle/wrestled with coaching decisions since the recent NFL season ended, it's nice to know that the Vikings have their coach. Hopefully, for a very long, successful time.
Before hiring Mike Zimmer, the Vikings went through a fairly thorough coaching search. Much more thorough than their previous three coaching decisions. They interviewed some of the coaches receiving interviews now. Todd Bowles, Dan Quinn, Darrell Bevell, Vic Fangio. That coaching search took about two weeks. It felt like more than twice that. The Vikings had to wait until the Cincinnati Bengals were eliminated from the playoffs before they could interview Zimmer. He was coaching the Bengals defense. Fortunately for the Vikings, the Bengals haven't had very long stays in the playoffs. Last year they were eliminated by the San Diego Chargers in the Wild Card round. One week after the end of the regular season. That was a very, very long week spent wondering if Mike Zimmer was on the Vikings "wish list." He was but the Tennessee Titans were the first team to bring him in for an interview. The Vikings were next. It appeared that it was between those two teams. The Vikings finished their first round of interviews and asked Zimmer in for a second. On the way to Minneapolis, he was notified by the Titans that they were going with Ken Whisenhut. This was a devastating blow for Zimmer. A blow so devastating that he nearly canceled the second interview with the Vikings. Fortunately, he didn't.
Mike Zimmer has been coaching football since he started as a defensive assistant for the University of Missouri in 1979. That's where he met Mike Price. When Price was hired as the head coach at Weber State in 1981, Zimmer moved with him as inside linebackers coach. He would later become defensive backs coach. When Price was hired as the head coach at Washington State in 1989, Zimmer moved with him as his defensive coordinator. In 1994 Zimmer decided to give the NFL a try. He was hired by Barry Switzer as the Dallas Cowboys defensive backs coach. They would win a Super Bowl in 1995. Zimmer continued coaching defensive backs for the Cowboys under Chan Gailey from 1998-99. When Dave Campo was hired in 2000, Zimmer was elevated to defensive coordinator. The Cowboys hired Zimmer's second football mentor in 2003. Bill Parcells. About this time, Zimmer started getting attention for head coaching jobs. When Parcells retired(?) following the 2006 season, Zimmer joined Bobby Petrino's staff with the Atlanta Falcons as defensive coordinator in 2007. He earned some fans when he publicly ripped Petrino for quitting on the Falcons for the University of Arkansas after 13 games. It was at this time that I became a big Mike Zimmer fan. It's only increased every year since. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis hired Zimmer to run his defense in 2008. For six years, Zimmer crafted terrific defenses in Cincinnati while waiting for a call from some team in need of a head coach. He had some calls but none resulted in a job. One of the great mysteries in all of football is how Mike Zimmer could coach for 35 years without one head coaching offer. We have Eric Mangini getting hired and fired twice before Zimmer was offered a single job. Zimmer accomplished more in coaching before Mangini even started coaching. It's incredible. Zimmer has been a "hot" head coaching candidate for more than a decade. "Hot" head coaching candidates don't stay "hot." They get hired. It's incredible that a coach can remain "hot" for a decade without getting the chance to show that he's not. It's a miracle that Mike Zimmer was still available for the Minnesota Vikings to hire him about this time last year.
Mike Zimmer nearly gave up on his head coaching dream when the Tennessee Titans became the last team to say "no." It was too much. He felt that it just wasn't in the cards for him. He felt that he was now too old for head coaching consideration. Lucky for the Vikings, he took one more interview.
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