Tag: Mike Zimmer

Vikings fire Mike Zimmer as head coach

Mike Zimmer is officially out in Minnesota.

After eight NFL seasons, the Minnesota Vikings have terminated Mike Zimmer as head coach, via Ian Rapoport.

There was plenty of speculation that the team was leaning in this direction all the way up to kick-off of the season finale on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

Even Zimmer recently addressed the swirling rumors about the uncertainty of his job status during an appearance on X’s and O’s with Paul Allen.

“I think it’s different that people can talk about your job and being let go and things like that. And not understanding the effects of all of the coaches, players and their families. They say it after you lose every week,” said Zimmer. “They don’t go around saying they should fire that doctor or fire that landscape guy or anything like that. It’s just part of the business I guess.”

The Vikings bit the dust with back-to-back losing seasons without a playoff berth.

They have two postseason wins in the Zimmer era, including a 2017 Divisional Playoff victory over the New Orleans Saints that punched their ticket to the NFC Championship. However, they went on to get blown off the field in a 38-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Vikings not reaching the desired expectations with such a talented roster. Zimmer is considered to be the first change of many ahead for a losing franchise hoping to right the ship.

Mike Zimmer had a blunt response for criticism of playing starters in the season finale

I guess this means we won’t see Kellen Mond at all.

It isn’t just rookie quarterback Kellen Mond. Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer isn’t interested in playing any backups in Sunday’s season finale against the Chicago Bears.

He doubled down on his decision to play the starters when speaking with the media on Friday.

“I get these questions. ‘Are we going to play young guys?’ The preseason games—that’s for those guys to play,” said Zimmer. “This is a regular season game, and we’ll approach it as we would the first game of the year to the last game of the year. We grind the same. We do pretty much everything the same, other than maybe we back down a few reps, but we do that at the end of the year anyway. This isn’t the preseason. So we just go about our business like we always have.”

Most of the questions and criticisms being hurled in Zimmer’s direction stem from the fact that he’s refusing to use the finale to get an extended look at Mond under center.

There’s also the concern for unnecessary injuries in a game that can’t help or hurt the Vikings in any way. They were eliminated from postseason contention in Week 17, when backup quarterback Sean Mannion filled in for Kirk Cousins at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. As expected, the Vikings got hammered in that game.

So now, even with the season in the dumps, Zimmer is still willing to risk putting key guys like Cousins, Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson, among many others, in harm’s way for no real reason.

This might not be the preseason, but it definitely carries the same reward: nothing.

Mike Zimmer candidly opens up about job status with the Vikings

Zimmer: “I’ve tried my best every single week.”

As Black Monday inches closer, the reality is starting to sink in that these could be the final days of Mike Zimmer serving as the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings.

There’s nothing gleeful or fun about anyone losing their job, but the truth is the Vikings haven’t played up to their potential. Given the level of talent on the team, they were expected to be Super Bowl contenders or—at the very least—playoff contenders.

But Super Bowl aspirations seem like a pipe dream at this point, and after getting rolled on by the Green Bay Packers in Week 17, they have now been eliminated from postseason contention in back-to-back years.

Zimmer might not always talk about it, but he definitely hears the noise from those calling for change.

“I think it’s different that people can talk about your job and being let go and things like that. And not understanding the effects of all of the coaches, players and their families. They say it after you lose every week,” Zimmer told Paul Allen, during an appearance on X’s and O’s. “They don’t go around saying they should fire that doctor or fire that landscape guy or anything like that. It’s just part of the business I guess.”

Regardless of what happens after Sunday’s season finale against the Chicago Bears, Zimmer appears to have made peace with it through his effort over the years. He truly believes he has given everything he has to the Vikings’ organization.

The team has made it to the playoffs three times in his eight seasons as the head coach, including a conference championship appearance in the 2017 season.

“I’ve tried my best every single week. To me, what’s important is the players and trying to give them my very best each and every time I go out there,” Zimmer said. “But I broke a tooth off about eight weeks ago and still haven’t been to the dentist. I almost lost my eye a couple years ago. So there’s all kinds of things that I’ve tried to do here.”

Mike Zimmer confirms Kirk Cousins will start against the Bears on Sunday

He’s back!

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has been activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list in time to start against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Coach Mike Zimmer confirmed the news on Wednesday.

Cousins went on the COVID list last Friday and wasn’t able to play in the pivotal Sunday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers in Week 17. The Vikings’ season was essentially on the line, and the team was forced to go with backup quarterback Sean Mannion as the starter.

As expected, the Vikings proved to be no match for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the top-seeded Green Bay Packers.

With the team’s postseason hopes dead in the water, there was speculation that Zimmer might consider starting rookie quarterback Kellen Mond in Sunday’s finale, but that was quickly shot down in the post-game press conference at Green Bay.

“Not particularly,” Zimmer said, when asked if he was interested in seeing Mond play.

The Vikings earned a 17-9 win over the Bears at Soldier Field back in Week 15, but Cousins was held to 12-of-24 passing for 87 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Antonio Brown calls Mike Zimmer the ‘best of the best,’ says he can fix Vikings

Yikes! This isn’t an opinion we were expecting.

Troubled wideout Antonio Brown has an idea of how to get business booming again for a Minnesota Vikings team that will miss the playoffs for a second straight season.

“I would love to have an opinion to tell you what the Vikings should do with Kirk Cousins, Mike Zimmer, their offense and their defense, but man, I’m trying to figure out my team, my squad, what I’m doing, where I’m going,” Brown said on Cameo. “So, SKOL nation, I would tell you how to fix the Vikings is to call Mike Zimmer and let Mike Zimmer figure it out. He’s the best of the best. You guys are in good hands.”

Brown has been all over headlines recently after pulling off his jersey and shirt during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game against the New York Jets, before walking off the field and leaving his teammates on Sunday.

He still hasn’t officially been released from his contract, but at the post-game press conference, Bucs coach Bruce Arians told media members Brown was “no longer a Buc.”

Brown never offered his services as part of the solution, but we could all imagine how deadly a receiving corps of Brown, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen would be.

And then common sense sets in and makes you realize it’s probably not worth it.

Mike Zimmer insists he told Klint Kubiak to run the ball more against the Packers

Zimmer wasn’t happy with the play-calling.

Some leftovers from the Minnesota Vikings’ 37-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers included a halftime discussion that occurred between coach Mike Zimmer and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

According to Zimmer, the Packers were playing a shell defense where they basically begged the Vikings to run the football. But instead of putting the ball into the hands of three-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook, Kubiak started getting a bit too pass-happy.

“We ran the ball nine times yesterday and two quarterback runs. So we ran 11 times in the whole course of the ballgame,” said Zimmer, when speaking with media members on Monday. “…My frustration is our best player is either [Justin] Jefferson or Cook, and we’re playing with a backup quarterback and—no offense to Sean [Mannion]—we’re throwing the ball 45 times. …At halftime I mentioned we needed to run the ball because we had 30-something yards at halftime.”

Mannion was making his first meaningful start under center since 2019, and he finished the game throwing 22-of-36 for 189 yards and one touchdown. He even led the team with 14 rushing yards.

There’s no question that Cook should have been more involved. He was arguably their best player on the field on a night when they were playing without Kirk Cousins (reserve/COVID-19 list). It’s pretty inexcusable that he’d finish with nine carries for 13 yards and three receptions for no receiving yards.

Kubiak’s questionable play-calling is just one item on a long list of things that went wrong for the Vikings.

Mike Zimmer clarifies snarky press conference comments on QB Kellen Mond

Zimmer was straightforward with his response.

Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer wasn’t going to make it through a meeting with reporters without at least addressing the elephant in the room—that being his snarky response to a question regarding rookie quarterback Kellen Mond on Sunday.

When asked if he wanted to get a look at Mond in the regular season finale against the Chicago Bears, Zimmer casually responded, “Not particularly.”

He then doubled down on that statement by saying, “I see him every day.”

On Monday, the topic was brought up again by reporters with Zimmer’s response being the primary talking point. This time, however, he went into further detail about Mond’s development and why he said what he said.

“I just meant [Mond] is the third-team quarterback,” said Zimmer. “I mean, he’s improved. He’s improved throughout the year. He’s got a chance to be a good player, but he’s third on the depth chart. So I kind of knew that. …You guys ask me those questions 10 minutes after the game, too. So that’s part of it as well.”

The comments came after the Vikings suffered a disappointing 37-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers, which essentially eliminated them from playoff contention.

Zimmer gave no indication that he’d give Mond playing time in the team’s last game of the season. So it’ll be Sean Mannion back under center for a second straight week or possibly even Kirk Cousins, assuming he comes off the reserve/COVID-19 list in time.

By all accounts, it’ll be business as usual for the Vikings.

Whether he stays or goes, Mike Zimmer clearly isn’t changing

Zimmer clearly isn’t changing.

Mike Zimmer wasn’t acting like a man with a future after the Minnesota Vikings imploded on the Frozen Tundra at Lambeau Field. He looked more like a man that would be defiant until the bitter end—head on the guillotine, staring unblinkingly and waiting for the axe to fall.

The season is over and done with for the Vikings, and Zimmer wouldn’t budge an inch on his decision not to play rookie quarterback Kellen Mond. No one is saying Mond is a savior. That would be foolish because this team is far beyond saving.

Despite having one of the most talented rosters in the league, the only thing they have to show for it is a 7-9 record and consecutive seasons without a playoff berth. By this time next week, their season could end with the same record as the Chicago Bears for crying out loud.

It’s bad—really, really bad.

But this clearly isn’t about saving a team that’s already out of sight and out of mind in the grand scheme of things. It’s about trying something different and just seeing what they have in a young player they felt good enough about to spend the No. 66 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft on.

The inability to change is why the Vikings are in this mess in the first place. Whether it’s the same nauseating play-calling or the same poor sideline decisions that have led to the mismanagement of games, the Vikings are who they are as long as Zimmer is on the sidelines.

They don’t even have anything to play for next week, and he still isn’t interested in at least giving Mond a shot under center.

“Not particularly,” he responded when asked if he wanted to get a look at the rookie in Week 18.

With Kirk Cousins on the COVID list, Sean Mannion was the respectable backup that came in and took his lumps like a man against Green Bay, but he clearly isn’t the future in Minnesota. Mond might not be, either, but the possibility is at least intriguing.

The bottom line: Mannion doesn’t need the snaps but Mond does.

However, Zimmer doesn’t seem likely to budge on this one. Why change when you can ride the coattails of almost making it to the Super Bowl in 2017?

This team isn’t close under Zimmer. No, they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.

Mike Zimmer had the most savage answer when asked about starting rookie QB Kellen Mond

Ouch.

The Minnesota Vikings are eliminated from the postseason. They’ll be entering an offseason with tons of questions up and down the organization, from the front office to the coaches to what the future looks like at quarterback.

So … why wouldn’t you want to start a rookie QB like Kellen Mond that you spent a third-round pick on in the last draft to see what you’ve got before all of that starts?

That was the question posed to Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer after a 37-10 loss to the Packers Sunday night.

And his answer? A lot of people used the word “cold” and I think that’s right on the money:

Vikings named the best potential head coaching opening

Despite the disappointing 2021 season so far, the Vikings are a promising team.

The Vikings’ 2021 season has not gone to plan.

Minnesota was seen as a playoff contender at the start of the year. The Vikings then started 0-2. The team has bounced back at various stages of 2021, but with each glimmer of hope, a despairing loss tends to follow in due time.

Minnesota has a few things going for it, though. With a young core of talent that has played good competition close this year, the Vikings don’t seem as far off from contending as, say, the Jaguars.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell seems to agree. Barnwell tabbed the Vikings as the best potential head coaching opening in the league. Barnwell said that Minnesota’s pros are talent on roster, patient ownership, veteran quarterback, while its cons are a lack of cap flexibility and a veteran quarterback.

Barnwell wrote:

“I’m including veteran quarterback as both a pro and a con as a bit of a joke, but I suspect that Kirk Cousins might be a blessing for some coaches and a hindrance to others. His numbers are surprisingly impressive this season, as he ranks in the top four in passer rating, adjusted net yards per attempt and touchdown-to-interception ratio. There aren’t many people in the NFL who perceive him to be that caliber of quarterback, though, and with a $45 million cap hit in 2022, the Vikings will be paying him as if he were an MVP candidate.

If they do decide to move on from longtime coach Mike Zimmer and/or general manager Rick Spielman, the first thing the new regime will have to do is solve the Cousins conundrum. Trading him would free up $35 million in desperately needed cap space, but the move would also leave them with rookie third-round pick Kellen Mond as the starting quarterback.”

Indeed, the team seems like a good quarterback on a cheaper contract away from being dangerous. Will the Vikings stick with Cousins? Will Cousins take a pay cut? Will the team try to find a new Vikings quarterback — either in the draft, free agency or the trade market? The next head coach will likely have a say in the matter.