So Lucky

I've liked a lot of things about Mike Zimmer for a long time. I especially like that he's the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings now. They are lucky to have him. So lucky. He should have been offered a head coaching job long before the Vikings finally did so on January 15, 2014. Zimmer started coaching at the college level in 1979. He moved to the NFL in 1994. He was a very effective NFL defensive coordinator for 14 years. Many coaches have been given their own team to run with less than a tenth of that experience. The Vikings first ever head coach was Norm Van Brocklin. He had no coaching experience. He went straight from MVP quarterback of the NFL Champion Philadelphia Eagles to head coach of the expansion Minnesota Vikings. Their ninth coach had 35 years of coaching experience. The Vikings second coach was Bud Grant. He turned the team into an annual contender. Four Super Bowl appearances. Pro Football Hall of Fame. A Minnesota state icon. He never spent a day as an assistant coach. Although he might have been something close to that while still a player for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Grant was 58 when he retired for good as the Vikings head coach. Zimmer was 57 when he was hired as the Vikings head coach. He should have been hired as a head coach by some team at least a decade before that. He grew so tired of the rejections that he nearly gave up trying. I'm so glad that he tried one more time. I'm so glad that his Vikings interview was his last. So Lucky.

I was first taken by Mike Zimmer when he was the defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons in 2007. He didn't hold back in his criticisms of head coach Bobby Petrino for bolting the team after only 13 games. Zimmer's coaching ability and fiery personality has held my attention ever since. He's a very demanding coach. He doesn't tolerate much and his fuse is short. He's the yelling, red-faced football coach that many players hate. Green Bay Packers football players of the 1960s hated Vince Lombardi more often than not. They loved him later when they were no longer the target of his rage. Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway thought that Zimmer would be difficult. A volatile task-master. Other players expected boot camp-like practices. Instead they experienced a fiery, exacting football teacher. Like the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals players Zimmer taught before them the Vikings players love him. They love playing for him. Most head coaches delegate teaching responsibilities. Zimmer is more hands-on. Literally. He's on the field with the players. Always active. Always teaching. Often yelling. Cornerback Xavier Rhodes was a frequent target of that yelling last summer. Zimmer saw the immense talent in the then second-year player but he had to learn the defense and the proper techniques that go with it. By the end of the year Rhodes was one of the best cornerbacks in the league. After the last game Rhodes approached his head coach to thank him. He thanked Zimmer for helping him become the player that they both knew he could be. Players love Zimmer because his only goal is to make them better. And he's always honest with them. His coaching peers respect him nearly as much as his players love him. When Zimmer arrived at his first Senior Bowl as a head coach all of the other coaches applauded. He had finally made it. For a coach that is held in such high esteem by nearly everybody in the football business it's truly stunning that he was turned down for so many head coaching jobs for so long. The Vikings are so damn lucky.

I suppose that what I like best about Mike Zimmer, other than his being the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, is that he just gets it. He treats everybody with respect. He treats everybody the same. In some of his early press conferences and interviews as the new head coach of the Vikings he was always quick to acknowledge the work and the importance of the scouts. It was clear that he wasn't just referring to those at the top of the personnel department food chain. He was referring to the regional scouts that do all of the grunt work. The anonymous members of the Vikings organization. Everybody's role is important and vital to the whole. It's clear that Zimmer knows that building a contending team, winning a championship isn't just about him. He realizes that it will take a team effort from everyone in the Vikings building to get where they want to go. He is quicker to give credit than to take it. He realizes the importance of the head coach-general manager relationship. I don't think that Zimmer ever would have taken the Vikings job, no matter how long he waited for the opportunity, if he didn't think that he could get along with Rick Spielman. It isn't just about him. That's so refreshing after Brad Childress. Where it felt like everything was about him. Where every decision had to be his. Zimmer simply wants to be on the football field and in the classroom. Especially that football field. He just wants to help make football players better football players and his team a better team. He sees himself as a fixer of problems and most importantly as a teacher. He has brought in football coaches that want to teach. He, and Spielman and the scouts, have targeted football players that want to learn. In his first press conference as the Vikings head coach, Zimmer said that he wanted to build a team that the fan's will be thrilled to watch play football. Through energy and effort, and hopefully wins, fans will enjoy watching a Mike Zimmer-coached football team. I don't know much but I do know that the Minnesota Vikings are moving in that direction. The right direction. The Minnesota Vikings and everyone that cheers for them are so lucky to have Mike Zimmer coaching the team.