With Dan Quinn leaving the Cowboys, don’t be surprised if Mike Zimmer is brought in as a possible replacement at defensive coordinator. | From @ReidDHanson
With Dan Quinn moving on to the nation’s capital to take over as the Commander’s head coach, his former position of defensive coordinator in Dallas is now vacant. It’s a move the Cowboys were certainly prepared for since Quinn was openly interviewing and made it to the short list for at least two franchises.
Internal replacements are a possibility, but Quinn will likely make every effort to bring as many as possible with him as he builds his new defensive staff in Washington. Chances are Jerry Jones has a list of outside candidates at the ready, already making calls and gauging interest in the newly open DC post.
While big names like Wink Martindale and Ron Rivera are dominating most discussions, another familiar name with ties to Dallas should probably be in the discussion as well; Mike Zimmer.
Zimmer, the Cowboys defensive coordinator from 2000 through 2006, has long held a strong relationship with the Cowboys’ front office. He coached under Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo and even Bill Parcells. In fact, Jones actively sold Parcells on keeping Zimmer when Parcells came on as head coach. It was extremely newsworthy at the time because Parcells was expected to overhaul all corners of his coaching staff and Zimmer wasn’t experienced in Parcell’s preferred brand of 3-4 defense.
After stops in Atlanta and Cincinnati, Zimmer went on to become head coach of the Vikings from 2014 through 2021. He earned the reputation for building an ultra-prepared defense who could generate pressure from anywhere. Most noteworthy was he posted a top-10 defense in five of the eight seasons he coached there.
Zimmer has been laying low since Minnesota, but has made it clear he wants to return to the game.
“Well, I’ve got about 270 acres in Kentucky so that keeps me a little busy,” Zimmer said in December. “But I built a little office building that I go over there, watch tape and study analytics and all the different things that you got to do. So staying at the top of the game.”
Taking a page from the Mike McCarthy playbook on how to get a job after a brief hiatus, Zimmer built the office barn, spoke of analytics, and reflected on his tendencies and studied current trends in the NFL. The similarities of the sales pitch are almost comical.
Zimmer, 67, has a desire to coach again in the NFL. The Cowboys are known to like familiar faces with proven track records. There’s an understandable link between the two.
Such a hire wouldn’t be seamless, though. Zimmer plays a lot of zone defense and the Cowboys two best coverage men, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, play primarily man coverage. Compromise would have to be found in the secondary – which isn’t impossible – just risky.
Quinn’s departure didn’t come out of nowhere and the Cowboys surely have a plan in motion to replace him. Don’t be surprised if Zimmer is part of that plan.
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