Mike Zimmer’s offseason of “soul searching” paying off in big way for Vikings

[purplefaithful]

The excitement of a 5-0 start having long since vanished, the Vikings were preparing to face the Indianapolis Colts a year ago having won only twice in their past eight games.One of those victories had come the previous week in Jacksonville – a win that put Minnesota a game over .500 – but if those Vikings had any interest left in the season it clearly had vanished by Week 15.


The Vikings played maybe their worst game of Mike Zimmer’s tenure in getting embarrassed 34-6 at U.S. Bank Stadium by the mediocre Colts. They followed that up by having some defensive players go rogue in a 38-25 loss the next week at Lambeau Field.
Why do we bring up this one-year anniversary in the midst of the Vikings’ 10-3 season that should result with the clinching of the NFC North with a victory over the 5-8 Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium?
Because it’s important to understand how far the Vikings have come from this time last season and, in particular how far Zimmer seems to have come as coach.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2017/1...y-vikings/

[Guest]

Zimmer, 61, is a veteran coach and his mentor, Bill Parcells, was known for being tough on players and doing things his way. The question was whether Zimmer would go down the “we’re doing it my way path, and I don’t care what you think,” path or, “I’ve got a problem and I need to do something about it,” path.
To Zimmer’s credit, he picked the latter. Zimmer put the blame on himself for what went wrong and said there would be plenty of “soul searching” during the offseason. He talked to veterans about what had gone wrong, he became more involved in the offense, he looked to fix things.
Instead of accepting the fact he had lost some players, Zimmer repaired whatever needed to be repaired and the Vikings are now headed toward their second division title in three years and could end up with 13 victories.
There is plenty of credit to go around for this success. General manager Rick Spielman made several important roster moves; Pat Shurmur has had a brilliant season calling plays as the offensive coordinator; quarterback Case Keenum has gone from career backup to playing at a Pro Bowl level and on and on and on.
But as the Vikings’ get set for Week 15 of the 2017 season, it would be a mistake to overlook just how far Zimmer has come as a head coach.

[Guest]

Good article, but I wish it had gone into more detail about what went wrong last year and how Zimmer was able to repair whatever issues he had with some players (and Turner) last year.  I have a feeling we'll never know exactly what went down.

[Guest]

The ol' dog decided to learn some new tricks. Good on 'em. 

[Guest]

Zim has had a nice bounce back season for sure.  Hopefully they also bounce back today.  December games, and how they do in the playoffs will define Zim's success. 

Go get 'em, coach!

[Guest]

@SFVikingFan said:
Good article, but I wish it had gone into more detail about what went wrong last year and how Zimmer was able to repair whatever issues he had with some players (and Turner) last year.  I have a feeling we'll never know exactly what went down.

That's what I was thinking.  I'm not sure what the point of the article is.  We all know last year was a huge mess and this year is way better.

[Guest]

When was the last time he called out a player or position group to the media instead of behind closed doors?