There are all sorts of ways to run an NFL franchise. The most common is one with a general manager and a head coach making personnel decisions. The relationship between the general manager and the head coach is key no matter which one has final say on roster decisions. These two individuals have to be able to work together. They don't have to like each other but they have to be able to work together. The San Francisco 49ers saw a lot of on-field success over the past few years but it became increasing obvious during those years that general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Jim Harbaugh didn't have a great. or even good, relationship. The media constantly hounding everyone in the 49ers building didn't help that relationship. A split was inevitable and Harbaugh is now at the University of Michigan and Jim Tomsula is in Harbaugh's old office. The 49ers were only a few yards from a Super Bowl victory despite the stormy front office. A team might find short-term football success in that situation but it's difficult to sustain. The general manager and head coach have to be able to work together.
After interviewing several coaches, Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman hired Mike Zimmer last January to be the team's new head coach. He saw Zimmer as an excellent football coach. He also saw Zimmer as a coach with whom he could work. They easily bonded over their Midwestern upbringing as sons of football coaches. Both felt that they could work well together to build the Vikings into a team that can win Super Bowls. A head coach and a general manager have to be on the same page to bring that sort of success. It sounds easy but it rarely is. The coach has a vision for the team. He introduces a particular system that requires certain players. The general manager is responsible for bringing in the players that fit. If each can respect the roles of the other it's a relationship that can work. They can't meddle in the jobs of the other. The coach coaches. The general manager brings in the players. When one steps on the other that's when things can get sideways. From the outside looking in that's what might have taken place in San Francisco.
It's only been a year but Spielman and Zimmer appear to have a sound relationship. With a year in the books, Spielman and the Vikings scouts are focusing in on the types of players that Zimmer and his coaches require for their brand of football. During one of several interviews this week at the Scouting Combine, Spielman told a story that explained the teamwork that's growing in Minnesota. It went a little something like this. Spielman was recently meeting with the scouts in preparation for the offseason, free agency, and the draft. The scouts were a "little fuzzy" on some traits that the coaches were looking for in certain players. Instead of going back and forth debating and hashing it out among themselves, Spielman went and grabbed Zimmer and brought him to the meeting. The traits that had the scouts a "little fuzzy" were with offensive players so Zimmer went to find offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Turner was in the middle of a meeting of his own with his offensive coaches. All of the offensive coaches came to the scouting meeting and an impromptu 45 minute discussion over these traits took place. Ever since Zimmer and Speilman have joined forces it has been a priority for all of the coaches and all of the scouts to be on the same page. Every person in the buildings and on the fields at Winter Park are tasked with the same goal with an understanding of their role in getting to that goal. If anyone is a little "fuzzy" on something they get the people together that can make it "fuzzy" no more.
The sample size is slight but it feels like the Vikings have a good thing. Rick Spielman obviously agrees with the football vision of Mike Zimmer. He hired the man. Zimmer simply wants to coach. He waited so long, decades, for this head coaching opportunity. He enjoys the work on the field with the players. If Spielman understands the types of players that he wants and needs and can get those players in Minnesota, Zimmer is a happy coach. Spielman enjoys what he does. Zimmer enjoys what he does. Each respects the roles of the other. Both are on the same page. If they are "fuzzy" on something they fix it. If the Vikings win, especially Super Bowls, everyone is happy.
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