Tag: Adam Zimmer

Former Vikings assistant Adam Zimmer tragically passes away

Former Vikings assistant coach tragically passes away

The Minnesota Vikings and the National Football League are mourning the loss of one of their own on Tuesday. Former Vikings linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer tragically passed away at the age of 38 his sister Corri announced via her Instagram page.

Zimmer was the son of former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and served on his staff for all eight seasons he was the head coach. He began his coaching career with the New Orleans Saints in the 2006 season and served on the staff that won the Super Bowl in 2009.

He became the Kansas City Chiefs assistant linebackers coach in 2010 where he served until 2012 and spent the 2013 season working under  his dad in Cincinnati as the assistant defensive backs coach.

After his dad was relieved of his duties in Minnesota, he went back to Cincinnati where he was serving as an offensive analyst this season.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Zimmer family during this difficult time.

Former Vikings co-defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer hired by Bengals

Adam Zimmer is joining the Bengals.

The Cincinnati Bengals have hired former Minnesota Vikings co-defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer to a new role and job title.

Per ESPN’s Field Yates, the longtime assistant will serve in an offensive analyst role for the reigning AFC champions.

There’s obviously some familiarity between Zimmer and the Bengals organization considering he worked with the team as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2013.

Now, he’s slated to return to a team that appears to be on the up-and-up after barely whiffing on a Lombardi Trophy when appearing in Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Vikings got the Rams’ former offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell as a head coach, and the Bengals got Zimmer as an offensive analyst.

Everything came full-circle.

Zimmer was fired by the Vikings earlier in the year after the team parted ways with his father, Mike Zimmer, and former general manager Rick Spielman.

It was a house-cleaning party in Minnesota, and Adam Zimmer got caught up with the rest of the previous coaching staff. He obviously landed on his feet perfectly fine with the Bengals.

One Zimmer is back in the NFL. Will the elder one follow?

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Adam Zimmer comments on getting fired by the Vikings

Adam Zimmer was with the Vikings for eight-long seasons before finally getting the axe.

Adam Zimmer probably knew his time with the Minnesota Vikings was over the moment his father, Mike Zimmer, was fired by the team. It’s out with the old and in with the new in Minnesota with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and soon-to-be hired head coach Kevin O’Connell taking the reins.

All that’s left for Adam Zimmer are a bunch of could haves, would haves and should haves for a team that sunk to consecutive losing seasons.

“They’ve already said they’re moving on,” said Zimmer, when speaking with the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson. “We did a lot of good things. Obviously, we played some really good defense. I’m proud of the run we had. I’m sorry we didn’t get to finish it.”

In the interview, Zimmer says he’s still “sorting through” the job market right now in search of his next opportunity.

For eight-long seasons, he served as the linebackers coach for the Vikings before eventually working his way up as a co-defensive coordinator. But the unit sunk under his watch. That might even be putting it mildly considering the team finished the season with one of the worst defenses in the league. Of course, injuries and personnel played a big role in that as well.

It’ll be interesting to see if Adam joins forces with his father again somewhere else, as both are clearly out of work and looking.

“I think [Mike Zimmer] does [have interest in returning], but it has to be the right situation,” said Adam.

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Vikings’ defensive staff so far

Here is the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive staff in the 2021 offseason so far.

The Minnesota Vikings have seen some prominent staff members leave this offseason. But the Vikings have made sure to fill many of those staff positions already.

There are a few possible openings at the moment, but a lot of the defensive and offensive coaching staff is under contract for the 2021 NFL season.

Earlier this week, Vikings Wire showed you how the offensive coaching hires and promotions affected the overall staff.

Now that the Vikings have made some additions to the defensive coaching staff, take a look at the full list of coaches on defense at the moment. Here is the full list:

3 takeaways from the news Eagles DC Jim Schwartz won’t return in 2021

Jim Schwartz will not return as defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles and is contemplating retirement.

The Philadelphia Eagles will have a new defensive coordinator in 2021 with the news that Jim Schwartz will step away next season to evaluate his future.

Schwartz was the Lions’ head coach from 2009-2013, compiling a 29-51 record with one playoff trip in 2011.

Here are three takeaways from the news:

Vikings Co-DC Adam Zimmer talks about the confidence of the Minnesota defense

It looks like the Minnesota Vikings defense is playing with some confidence, according to Vikings co-DC Adam Zimmer.

After getting picked apart by the Packers and Colts early on, the Vikings defense has found its stride.

Granted the team has probably benefitted a bit from cold weather and weaker competition, but the Minnesota defense has not given up more than 22 points in the past three games.

That’s even more impressive when you consider how bad the special teams has been, which has left the Vikings defense in tough spots at times.

Vikings co-defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer said the defense has been playing with confidence.

“When you play good, you show a little more emotion,” Adam Zimmer said, via the Vikings Twitter account. “Obviously, we made a lot of plays on Monday night. And the guys are starting to feel like ‘hey, this is how we’re supposed to look as a defense.’ I think they really did a good job of coming together. You’re seeing the cohesiveness of the unit, especially over the last couple of weeks.”

Minnesota has yet another pretty favorable matchup, this time against the Cowboys. If the Vikings win this game they move to .500 overall. Who would have thought that could happen, after the team’s 1-5 start?

What Vikings coach Mike Zimmer told Adam Zimmer when he hired him in Cincinnati

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer wasn’t going to be easy on his son Adam when the two were with the Bengals.

Before Mike Zimmer was head coach of the Vikings, he spent time as the defensive coordinator for the Bengals.

When he was in Cincinnati, Zimmer hired his son Adam, who is now co-defensive coordinator in Minnesota. Here is what Mike first told Adam when he hired him in Cincinnati:

“He told me … ‘I’m going to treat you harder than everybody else, not because I’m trying to prove anything but because I want you to be the best you can be.’ And that’s exactly what I wanted. I don’t want to be the guy who just has a job; I want him to make me the best I can be,” Adam Zimmer said, via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

Adam is in his first season as co-defensive coordinator with the Vikings. He’ll have to orchestrate a turnaround of sorts if he wants this first season in that role to be a successful one.

Vikings Co-DC Adam Zimmer addresses nose tackle competition

Who do you think will be the Vikings’ starter at nose tackle?

Earlier this offseason, the Vikings landed a free agent who could have played nose tackle this year.

Minnesota signed Michael Pierce, but then Pierce opted out of the 2020 NFL season. Pierce said he had really bad asthma ,among other respiratory issues, and that it was a high-risk opt-out, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.

The Vikings then traded for defensive tackle P.J. Hall, who then failed his physical and reverted back to the Raiders. Hall may have been a three-technique option for the Vikings, but either way, the team is left with less depth due to not having him.

With Minnesota being back to square one at nose tackle, Vikings co-defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer recently discussed the position.

According to Tomasson, Zimmer first brought up Shamar Stephen when talking about the nose tackle.

“Shamar Stephen’s done it before, and he’s as good a nose as there is. He’s really good in the run game. He’s an extremely smart player,” Zimmer said, via Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune.

Zimmer mentioned Armon Watts and Jaleel Johnson in addition to Stephen, according to Chad Graff of The Athletic.

A position that appeared to be fixed in free agency is now a competition. It will be fun to see what develops.

Vikings Co-DC Andre Patterson: “We had to get into a teacher mode, not a coach mode’

“We’re going to be teachers and teach these guys what the scheme is all about, and I think that worked out very well for us.”

Andre Patterson was promoted to co-defensive coordinator of the Vikings this offseason, one that has been unconventional due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As reported by the Star Tribune, Vikings haven’t been able to practice during their offseason program, and they’ve had to tweak meetings and get more creative because of it.

“I’m an old teacher. I started off as a teacher,” Patterson told the Star Tribune. “We had to get into a teacher mode, not a coach mode. We’re going to be teachers and teach these guys what the scheme is all about, and I think that worked out very well for us.”

Adam Zimmer, the other Vikings co-defensive coordinator, was also promoted to his position this offseason. He seems excited to see the rookies start to play.

“To see them actually go through what we’ve taught them over the last five or six weeks,” Adam Zimmer told Star Tribune. “See who can handle it; see who can’t. See who is going to rise to the top and who isn’t.”

Vikings tied for 18th in continuity, according to ESPN

ESPN ranked the Vikings tied for 18th in terms of the team’s continuity. Do you think they will be better or worse?

The Vikings have seen free agency departures from veterans and a couple coordinators this offseason.

That adds up to Minnesota not having a lot of continuity. In fact, ESPN ranked the Vikings tied for 18th out of 32 teams in that category. Here’s what it said about the team:

“Continuity is the buzzword for the Vikings’ offense. Zimmer liked what he saw from Cousins & Co. last year and said the same system, playcalls, motions and formations will remain in place to help this unit take another step forward. Defensively, it’s a different story. With two new co-defensive coordinators in Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer, who will continue to coach their respective positions, along with a host of new position coaches and starters, the Vikings’ defense is set to undergo a period of evolution.”

I’ll say this: The new coordinators aren’t exactly new. Kevin Stefanski left this offseason to be head coach of the Browns, but the Vikings hired Gary Kubiak to be the team’s new offensive coordinator. He was already on staff for the team in 2019.

So were Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer, the team’s new defensive coordinators. George Edwards, the defensive coordinator from 2019, had his contract run out and did not return to Minnesota this offseason.

The Vikings lost members of the coaching staff, but replaced them with in-house choices. It should be interesting to see if the staff can pick up right where it left off, despite the changes.