Tag: Mike Zimmer

BREAKING: Cowboys expected to name Mike Zimmer new defensive coordinator

From @ToddBrock24f7: It would be a return to Dallas for Zimmer, who won a Super Bowl ring with the dynasty and then went on to coach the Vikings for 8 seasons.

The Cowboys are expected to name Mike Zimmer their next defensive coordinator, according to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News has added that it’s down to a matter of “some logistics” that need to be completed.

The news comes after four days of interviews that followed the departure of Dan Quinn to Washington to become the Commanders’ new head coach. And while the report of Zimmer’s hire hasn’t been confirmed by the team, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did hint that a decision has been made.

“I’ve been on the phone all afternoon with our future defensive coach,” Jones said from the red carpet at NFL Honors in Las Vegas Thursday night. “We’re excited about that. We’ve been working all the way flying out here on that.”

If it is, in fact, the 67-year-old Zimmer, it would be a return to the team that gave him his first NFL job. The Illinois native was hired in 1994 to be a defensive assistant for the team’s nickel package under head coach Barry Switzer. He won a title with the franchise in Super Bowl XXX and remained with the Cowboys for 13 seasons, working his way up the ladder with a five-year stint as defensive backs coach and then another seven as defensive coordinator.

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Zimmer moved on to become DC in Atlanta and then Cincinnati before being named head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 2014. He amassed a 72-56-1 record with the Vikes and then served as a consultant for one of his former Cowboys players, Deion Sanders- who was then head coach of Jackson State’s football program- during the 2022 college football season.

After taking 2023 away from the game (but preparing with extensive study on his own), Zimmer made it known that he wanted to return to an NFL sideline. He was one of several prospective candidates for the DC job in Dallas, along with former coaches Ron Rivera and Rex Ryan, as well as current Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde and Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel.

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Zulgad: News involving Mike Zimmer and Teddy Bridgewater provides reminder of what-ifs for Vikings fans

Judd Zulgad looks at what could have been with the Minnesota Vikings under Mike Zimmer and Teddy Bridgewater

It seemed fitting that news of Mike Zimmer interviewing for the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator position came a day after Miami (Florida) Northwestern High School named Teddy Bridgewater as its head football coach.

The association between Zimmer and Bridgewater might not be clear to some, but anyone who follows the Minnesota Vikings knows how inextricably linked the two are in franchise history.

It’s one of the great what-ifs not only for Vikings fans but also those who worked for the organization when Bridgewater arrived as the last pick of the first round in the 2014 draft. Bridgewater’s selection — Vikings general manager Rick Spielman acquired the 32nd pick in a draft-night trade with Seattle — came less than four months after Zimmer had been hired as the ninth head coach in Vikings history.

This was long before anyone knew the defensive-minded Zimmer had limited patience with quarterbacks and saw them more as a necessary evil than anything. Maybe it was because Zimmer’s offensive coordinator, Norv Turner, had a big hand in the decision to select Bridgewater, or maybe it was because Zimmer himself played a role in the pick. Zimmer seemed more taken with Bridgewater than he would with any other quarterback who followed.

After replacing the injured Matt Cassel as the starting quarterback in September 2014, Bridgewater helped lead the Vikings to an NFC North title in 2015 and what should have been a victory over Seattle in the wild card round, if not for Blair Walsh’s missed field goal with 26 seconds in the fourth quarter.

The disappointment of that loss remains with Vikings fans to this day, but at the time the organization had high hopes for the future with Bridgewater leading the way. Bridgewater, like any quarterback, was criticized by some who felt his arm strength wasn’t sufficient, or didn’t like his style of play. Zimmer, however, didn’t care, he liked what Bridgewater provided both on the field and in the locker room as a leader.

The optimism surrounding Bridgewater reached its zenith on the afternoon of Aug. 28, 2016. The Vikings, playing their first-ever game in U.S. Bank Stadium, beat the Chargers, 23-10, as Bridgewater completed 12-of-16 passes for 161 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph that came on his last pass of the day late in the second quarter.

That was supposed to be Bridgewater’s final tune-up for the regular-season opener on Sept. 11 in Tennessee. Bridgewater never got there.

Two days later, during a practice at Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Bridgewater dropped back to pass, planted his foot and immediately collapsed to the ground with a gruesome leg injury. The then 23-year-old had suffered a torn left ACL, a dislocation of the knee joint and other structural damage. His season was over and it was clear his once-promising career never would be the same.

The injury was so shocking that Zimmer called off the practice after 25 minutes as Bridgewater was attended to by the medical staff. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

The Vikings quickly acquired veteran Sam Bradford from Philadelphia for a first-round pick in the 2017 draft and started 5-0 before winning only three more games and missing the playoffs with an 8-8 record. Zimmer’s starting QB list went from Bradford, who was injured early in the 2017 season; to Case Keenum, who replaced Bradford and helped take the Vikings all the way to the 2017 NFC championship game; to Kirk Cousins, who was signed to a three-year, $84 million contract in 2018.

From an outside perspective, Zimmer never seemed to trust Keenum and he had no interest in signing Cousins to a contract that would take away from the ability to solidify other areas of his team, namely defense.

Zimmer’s firing came after back-to-back sub-.500 seasons in 2020 and 2021, and occurred long after Bridgewater had departed as a free agent and led a nomadic football life that included stops with the Jets, Saints, Panthers, Broncos, Dolphins and Lions. Zimmer, 67, spent the past two years at his Kentucky ranch before recently making it clear he wants to get back into coaching.

Both men must occasionally wonder about how different things might have been if not for that awful day in late August. Maybe Bridgewater would have eventually flopped, but the fact Zimmer embraced Bridgewater as his quarterback said a lot about his faith in the QB’s abilities.

Do the Vikings not only get to the NFC title game in 2017, but do they beat the Eagles and become the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium? Does the second act of Zimmer’s tenure in Minnesota not turn into a daily drama, in part because he doesn’t have to work with a veteran quarterback he clearly never wanted?

These are the great what-ifs that will remain exactly that when it comes to Zimmer and Bridgewater. Their names forever linked in Vikings lore, and the news, even six years after they were separated.

Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com.

Report: Mike Zimmer officially interviewing to become Cowboys DC

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 67-year-old won a Super Bowl ring with the Cowboys the last time they were there. Now he’s talking to them about returning for 2024.

What was once an intriguing notion and then a rumored possibility has taken a very real step. The Cowboys are officially interviewing Mike Zimmer for their open defensive coordinator job.

The news comes from NFL insider Adam Schefter, though many have suspected for a while that the 67-year-old could be a candidate for the role that was vacated by Dan Quinn. On Saturday, Quinn signed his contract to become the next head coach of the Washington Commanders.

Zimmer last held the Cowboys’ DC role in 2006 before moving on to serve as defensive coordinator in Atlanta and Cincinnati. He then served as head coach in Minnesota until the conclusion of the 2021 season.

Known as a fiery coach who tends to develop strong and lasting relationships with his players, Zimmer spent the 2022 season as an analyst and consultant for one of his former players, Cowboys legend Deion Sanders, as head coach of Jackson State.

Zimmer spent the 2023 campaign away from the game but studying current trends as part of an effort to return to the sidelines.

He may get the opportunity with the franchise that rewarded him with a Super Bowl ring in 1996.

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The Cowboys are also set to interview former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera in the coming days. Potential internal candidates could include Joe Whitt Jr., Al Harris, and Aden Durde, though there’s a chance some or all of them could end up following Quinn to the Commanders. Other outside names that have been mentioned as possibilities (all purely speculative at this point) are Mike Vrabel, Brandon Staley, Wink Martindale, and even Bill Belichick.

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Report: Mike Zimmer interested in Dallas Cowboys DC job

According to a report from the Dallas Morning News, former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is interested in the Dallas Cowboys DC job.

Could we see the return of former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer to the NFL?

The Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins reported that Zimmer has interest in becoming the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys. He hasn’t been in the NFL since the Vikings fired him at the end of the 2021 season.

Zimmer has a long history with the Cowboys. He was on their staff from 1994-2006, starting as a defensive backs coach in 1994 before being promoted to defensive backs coach in 1995, a role he served in for five seasons.

In 2000, Zimmer was promoted to defensive coordinator, where he served for seven seasons, including under his mentor Bill Parcells.


With the Vikings, Zimmer’s defenses finished in the top 10 for five consecutive seasons from 2015-2019 with the 2017 group being the top scoring defense.

Zimmer going back to Dallas to work with that group of talent, including Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs, would be incredibly intriguing.

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11 candidates for Cowboys vacant defensive coordinator position

The Cowboys are in need of fresh perspective in the defensive coordinator role, but it may be a difficult fill. 11 candidates, both internal and external. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Cowboys are in a unique situation now. They are going to have to find a new defensive coordinator after the departure of Dan Quinn. Quinn became Washington’s new head coach, and will have a playground to work with that includes $63 million in cap space and the No. 2 overall selection in a QB-heavy draft class.

That Dallas needs to replace a coordinator isn’t a big deal. The fact that their head coach is going into the final year of his contract without an extension is what makes things difficult. Defensive assistants in positive environments, or with a bunch of opportunities, might hesitate to pack up their lives (and families) for what might be a one-and-done.

On the other hand, veteran defensive minds might look at this as an opportunity to audition for one of the most famous sports jobs in America. Theoretically, a coach with experience would be in line to be at worst an interim hire should things go bad for Mike McCarthy’s offense and an in-season firing happened. They’d at least get consideration for the gig were Dallas to move on from McCarthy at the end of the 2024 season.

And if there’s success? Then the DC would be in running for head coach job elsewhere in 2025. With that in mind, here’s a collection of names —both internal and external —that could be on Jerry Jones and company’s radar as the interview process convenes.

Is Mike Zimmer a possible Dan Quinn replacement for Cowboys?

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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Former Cowboys DC wants to return to coaching in 2024

From @ToddBrock24f7: Mike Zimmer won a title with the Cowboys. Could a return to the sidelines reunite him with Deion Sanders or maybe bring him back to Dallas?

A longtime Cowboys assistant who’s been out of the league for the past two seasons will likely be back on a sideline soon, although which team’s colors he’ll be wearing remains to be seen.

Mike Zimmer worked in Dallas from 1994 through 2006 and was promoted from assistant nickel coach to defensive back coach and then finally, to defensive coordinator along the way. He won a ring with the team for Super Bowl XXX and went on to have DC stints with two other NFL teams before being hired as the Vikings head coach in 2014.

After going 72-46-1 in Minnesota and winning two NFC North crowns, Zimmer was fired in early 2022, bringing an end to his eight-year tenure.

Now 67, Zimmer says he wants to get back into coaching.

“I just think it’s something that’s in your blood. My dad was a high school coach for a long, long time. I love being around the players. I love the challenge of trying to make an organization better,” Zimmer said in a recent interview with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

“The biggest thing is I love to teach, I love to coach,” he added. “When I was a head coach, I was always trying to teach players, try to get them better.”

Zimmer will be doing just that next month when he serves as one of the head coaches of the Polynesian Bowl, the collegiate all-star game to be played in Honolulu on Jan. 19. Zimmer will coach Team Mauka (Mountain); his former Cincinnati Bengals boss Marvin Lewis will coach Team Makai (Ocean).

Where Zimmer goes after that game has become a topic of some debate in football circles. He’ll certainly get good, long looks as a head coach, but for the purposes of this exercise, we’ll look at three intriguing possibilities should he be interested in a defensive coordinator job in 2024.

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25 SKOL’s of Christmas: Teddy Bridgewater’s triumphant return

After everything he had been through, seeing Teddy return was a moment of pure joy

Welcome to the 25 SKOL’s of Christmas!

In a similar vein to how Freeform has done the 25 days of Christmas, we will look back at different moments in Vikings history to bring a little extra joy to you this holiday season.

It’s that simple. The holidays can be a trying time for some people and we want to put a smile on people’s faces by reminiscing about some truly joyous times in Vikings’ history.

On the eighteenth SKOL of Christmas, the Vikings gave to me: Teddy Bridgewater’s triumphant return to football.

The Minnesota Vikings were set up to make a real Super Bowl run in the 2016 season. They were coming off a season where they won the NFC North in dramatic fashion against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field and dominated the wild card matchup against the Seattle Seahawks but they couldn’t get it done.

The confidence level surrounding the team was sky-high and the preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers gave even more hope to Vikings fans as he ran the offense to perfection with explosiveness.

That all came to an end on August 30th which ended up being a fateful day for the franchise.

Bridgewater didn’t just hurt his knee, he destroyed it. One wrong step caused a torn ACL and a brutal dislocation that without the quick reaction of head trainer Eric Sugarman, Bridgewater could have lost his leg.

The Vikings went into somewhat of a tailspin for the next few months. They traded first and fourth-round picks for Sam Bradford and, after a 5-0 start, they missed the playoffs at 8-8.

During the offseason, there was discussion about what this team would do at the quarterback position? They had Bradford on the roster and the injury prognosis was unknown. He ended up starting the season on injured reserve and didn’t start another game for the Vikings.

Once he was healthy, there was a lot of speculation that he would end up getting the starting job over Case Keenum, as he was winning games, but making multiple bonehead decisions per game had head coach Mike Zimmer openly questioning his quarterback.

While he never made the switch, Keenum led the Vikings on quite a journey. It ultimately ended in the NFC Championship Game, but one of the best moments in Vikings history came when they hosted the Cincinnati Bengals.

It ultimately ended up being a 34-7 win for the Vikings, but it was more about the moment. It was the game where Bridgewater made his triumphant return and the standing ovation was so loud, it felt like the roof of U.S. Bank Stadium was going to shatter.

While things never were quite the same for Bridgewater, that one moment will forever live in Vikings’ lore.

Previous SKOL’s of Christmas:

Drafting Randy Moss
Vikings 1997 Wild Card Comeback
Jarius Wright Walks Off the Jets
Jared Allen traded to Vikings
Adrian Peterson Sets Rushing Record
Brett Favre Revenge Tour
Bud Grant Rocks a Polo in Freezing Temperatures
Adrian Peterson Stiff Arms Defender to Oblivion
Anthony Carter Dominates the 1987 Playoffs
Kirk Cousins’ First Major Comeback
Randy Moss Dominates Monday Night Football
Tuesday Night Joe Webb
Randy Moss Laterals to Moe Williams
Miracle At The Met
Cris Carter catches number 1,000
Resurgence of Randall Cunningham
Sam Bradford Opens Up U.S. Bank Stadium

Kyle Sloter throws shade at former head coach Mike Zimmer

Preseason legend Kyle Sloter throws shade at his former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer.

Every so often, someone throws out a question that generates a lot of discussion. ESPN’s NFL X account proposed the following question.

Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyle Sloter has his own fan page account that said him vs. former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was the greatest rivalry in NFL history. His quote tweet says it all about how he feels about his former head coach.

Sloter was known as a preseason legend around the Vikings fanbase and a player who many thought deserved a chance with the team. In the preseason finale of 2017, Sloter completed 15-23 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals while with the Denver Broncos.

Over his two preseason with the Vikings, he never had a completion percentage less that 66% while throwing eight touchdowns and one interception.

He was waived after the 2019 preseason and had a brief stay with the team in 2021. It was a fun stay with the team and things ended the way they probably should have.

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Bills sign former Vikings CB Cameron Dantzler

The former third-round pick is with his third team in the last three months after signing with the Bills.

The Buffalo Bills have signed cornerback Cameron Dantzler Sr. to a one-year contract. The team announced the move on Wednesday morning.

The Minnesota Vikings released Dantzler back in March after three injury-plagued seasons. There were bright spots from the former third-round pick, but consistency was not there for Dantzler.

His PFF coverage grades regressed every year, going from a 69.8 in 2020, to 67.6 in 2021 and 64.7 in 2022. Starting off with Mike Zimmer as your head coach was a difficult one for Dantzler due to how much he asks of his cornerbacks.

This past season looked to have been a great situation for Dantzler with the Vic Fangio-inspired defense led by Ed Donatell. That didn’t come to fruition, as Dantzler ended up being benched multiple times in 2022 which led to his release.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott has been known to maximize cornerbacks who are on the slower end of the spectrum, and his talent certainly makes him worth a dart throw.