Mike Zimmer, keep him or curb him?

[Bullazin]

Curious as to my brethren’s thoughts 

[Guest]

I love Z and he has the players respect. i think that goes a long way in this league. Kinda Denny like but on the D side of the ball. I rank him 3rd behind Denny but think he can get better still.  I want him to be more aggressive and think he will need to in order to get over the top unless Kubes single handedly turns our O into a juggernaut. 

[Guest]

I'm not ready to get rid of Zimmer. 

[Guest]

I think he's maxed out. I think he and Speilman are here one more year. After that, Cousins is due for a new deal and it might be the end of the road for all three.

[Guest]

Say the vikes lose to the saints. dallas comes offering a 2nd rounder. do you then trade zimmer?

[Guest]

That's a tough question and I'm torn. If we keep him, we lose Stefanski. An analytics wiz kid, is Stefanski the next young hot shot in the NFL? I'm not sure, but I think the Wilfs think so. They don't want to lose him. And that's why you're hearing the rumblings about a possible Zimmer trade to Dallas. Not sure what we do, though, if the Vikings win on Sunday. Zimmer's trade value would move up and we could maybe squeeze a 1st (or more) out of Jerry. But then how do you move on from a coach who has made the playoffs 3 out of the last 5 seasons and has the 3rd highest winning percentage in the NFC?

I have problems with Zimmer's ability to game plan, but I will say it's nice to pretty much always EXPECT a competitive team. We're spoiled in that regard. But are we misplacing credit for it? Here's a comment I read on Twitter that I tend to agree with: "Rick Spielman is why we have those expectations. Mike Zimmer is why we can't reach those expectations."

[Guest]

@eckman said:
Say the vikes lose to the saints. dallas comes offering a 2nd rounder. do you then trade zimmer?

I would push for a first and a second or third round pick. If you are getting rid of Zimmer you are likely getting rid of Rick also. So you would need to accumulate as many draft picks as possible, to move up and get the new QB.
I would be ok with this idea, but it's not likely to happen. If Zimmer goes and Rick stays, I would say no way.

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:
Here's a comment I read on Twitter that I tend to agree with: "Rick Spielman is why we have those expectations. Mike Zimmer is why we can't reach those expectations."

You know, if a certain individual from Joisey read this, this thread would be immediately shut down!

[Guest]

I think it would be a mistake to get rid of Zimmer.  He's a good coach and the players have his back.  I think they appreciate his brutal honesty and respect him for not being afraid to admit the times he makes mistakes and holds himself accountable publicly.  He reminds me a lot of Bill Cowher who had some success early in his coaching career, but the Steelers had some lean years for awhile before they finally won a Super Bowl.

If you have a good coach, I think you stick with him.  Look at the other coaches that were hired when we got Zimmer...  Bill O'Brien is the only one that is still a HC.  Jim Caldwell, Lovie Smith, Mike Pettine, and Jay Gruden were all fired.  Then you look at Bill O'Brien and yes, he's won the AFC South 4 out of 6 years...  but two of those years were with a 9-7 record...  he is 1-3 in the playoffs and hasn't gotten his team past the divisional round.

Sometimes the grass isn't always greener.

[Guest]

@eckman said:
Say the vikes lose to the saints. dallas comes offering a 2nd rounder. do you then trade zimmer?

Run to the phone and take that deal! OK, ask for a 1st but don't get too greedy.
But if we get beat by the Saints, doesn't Jones' interest in Zimmer diminish a lot or completely dry up? You're proposing a very defined moment - he validates our fears that he won't ever be more than a coach who can beat losing teams in the regular season, but another owner ignores that and gives us a bonus - even though that owner is trying to replace a coach who has that same weakness. I would love that clarity but don't think the stars will align that well.