Was Mike Zimmer a giant clown?

[pattersaur]

In your opinion was Zim a terrible head coach?

So far, it’s looking like the roster will be pretty familiar next season. If that’s the case then the only real big change is with the coaching. So, do you believe that Zim was so bad that he was holding this roster back? I honestly don’t know but that seems to be what the Wilfs believe and what they’re selling to the fanbase.

For the sake of the team and this fan’s sanity, I hope they are right and KOC can elevate this squad in ways Zim could not. But there was a time (8 months ago?) where most of the fanbase supported Zimmer. I’m just not sure I buy that he was the sole problem and now that he’s been eradicated everything will be daisies.

[Guest]

He was in the circus, but this dbag was the ringmaster:

Signs of dysfunction were apparent early on. Several sources said Meyer stepped into the job as if he had all the answers, even though he had never coached in the NFL.
Meyer said he conducted a six-month deep dive on the NFL that included interviews with his former Florida and Ohio State players as well as a study of the salary cap. But multiple sources said Meyer was unfamiliar with star players around the league, including 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel, Seahawks safety Jamal Adams and Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, a three-time NFL defensive player of the year.
“Who’s this 99 guy on the Rams?” Meyer asked one staffer during the season, according to a source. “I’m hearing he might be a problem for us.”

[Guest]

Friends and family over the years have labeled Meyer a control freak and perfectionist, and as he climbed the ranks he developed a reputation as a tough, obsessive win-at-all-costs coach who, by his own admission, was “addicted” to victory. But according to coaches, players and staff in Jacksonville, Meyer crossed the line from tough and demanding to belittling, demeaning and leading by fear.
“The most toxic environment I’ve ever been a part of,” a veteran member of the football operations staff said. “By far. Not even close.”
Receiver D.J. Chark, who signed with the Lions last week after spending the first four years of his career with the Jaguars, said Meyer routinely threatened to fire coaches and cut players. “He feels like threats are what motivates,” Chark said. “I know he would come up to us and tell us if the receivers weren’t doing good, he wasn’t going to fire us, he was going to fire our coach. He would usually say that when the coach was around.”
Kicker Josh Lambo said last year Meyer kicked him during warmups — a fact Meyer’s lawyers reportedly conceded to Rick Stroud, the reporter who broke the story for the Tampa Bay Times. Lambo believed Meyer’s kick was an act of “intimidation,” a theme echoed by several people in the organization. One player described the year with Meyer as “mentally exhausting.”

[Guest]

Urban Meyer burst into a room full of players at the Jaguars’ facility. He was furious.
One of his players had missed an assignment during a preseason game, leading to a busted play. Meyer was enraged when it happened. A day later, he was still fuming. If the mistake ever happened again, Meyer warned, he would cut every single one of them.
“And do you know what would happen if I cut you guys?” Meyer said, according to four people in the room. “You couldn’t get a job paying more than $15 an hour.”
The implication that his players were capable of little more than playing football left some angry, others offended. “I lost all respect for him after that,” a veteran player in the room said.

[Guest]

@pattersaur said:
In your opinion was Zim a terrible head coach?

So far, it’s looking like the roster will be pretty familiar next season. If that’s the case then the only real big change is with the coaching. So, do you believe that Zim was so bad that he was holding this roster back? I honestly don’t know but that seems to be what the Wilfs believe and what they’re selling to the fanbase.

For the sake of the team and this fan’s sanity, I hope they are right and KOC can elevate this squad in ways Zim could not. But there was a time (8 months ago?) where most of the fanbase supported Zimmer. I’m just not sure I buy that he was the sole problem and now that he’s been eradicated everything will be daisies.

But, back to the OP:

I've said many times that the sum of the parts was less than the whole. Situational football routinely was out of his grasp. Clock management was a joke. His practice tactics moronic. Couldnt outcoach a Cooper Rush lead McCarthy team. Letting the Lions march down field the last minute in Detroit was the last straw for me. He lost the team and the game passed him by. 

[Guest]

Zimmer had his issues no doubt but Meyer is a next level douchebag. He is not made for the NFL and working with adults, his ego is off the charts. Zimmer didn't want anything to do with offense and I think that is where coaching is going to make a difference. KOC is going to collaborate with both offense and defense. 

[Guest]

Yeah, he turned into a clown for sure.

[Guest]

There may not be much player turn over on O, but there will be on D.

Couple that with significant culture and schematic changes? It will be a very different Viking team taking the field in September vs y.ago. 

Will it be a better one? Who the hell knows. 

The extent of the toxicity in the bldg and mediocrity achieved on the field screams this flush of the Vikings was 1-2 years too late.

Mike was a big part of the problem imo. 

[Guest]

IMO he had some talent as a DC but was not suited temperamentally or emotionally to be a HC, and those issues manifested within a couple years of his hire in 2016. 

It also appears from reading tea leaves that over time Rick Spielman lost some organizational control and ceded it to Mike's passive-aggressive persona.    That devolved into the bad situation over the last few years, news of which leaked out after the firings.   It also fomented the organizational lurch back to football-by-committee, after the original TOA/committee approach gave way to the strong GM/HC combo which devolved into corrupt power mongering it seems.

Just basically a guy in over his head, whose tendency to mouth off may have hurt his chances to get back into the league as a DC, but it's very much a blow-who-you-know league when it comes to staff hiring so he's not without a chance despite the shortcomings.  Question is has the game passed him by?  He's pushing 70 at this point.   

[Guest]

@Vikergirl said:
Zimmer had his issues no doubt but Meyer is a next level douchebag. He is not made for the NFL and working with adults, his ego is off the charts. Zimmer didn't want anything to do with offense and I think that is where coaching is going to make a difference. KOC is going to collaborate with both offense and defense. 

I'll also include how Zim felt about coaching STs.  I wouldn't doubt the ex-Viking kickers are in therapy 3-4 times per week because of him.  He simply was a decent DC put into a HC position without taking charge of the entire team.  What kind of HC would go 3 seasons without ever having any type of meeting with his highly paid starting QB?