Mike Zimmer, keep him or curb him?

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. 

I'm not ready to get rid of Zimmer. 

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.

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

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."

@"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.

@"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! ;)

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.

@"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.

@"Jor-El" said:

@"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.

Here we go...

Zimmer could be gone if Vikings lose to SaintsAt this point, I would be surprised if Mike Zimmer remains the Vikings head coach next week should his team get thumped by the Saints. What began as a whisper around league circles has now grown closer to a scream, and ownership there is getting frustrated with being good … but not great.
The Wilf family didn't spend huge bucks across the roster with big signings and massive extensions to be comfortable just going out in the wild card round. The 2020 season was already set up as a pivotal one, with Kirk Cousins and Zimmer both in the final year of their deals, and executives around the NFL are convinced that big changes could be coming quickly in Minnesota if this team does not perform well in the playoffs.
Zimmer can be a handful and his tendency to wear out and churn through offensive coordinators has not gone unnoticed. Current OC Kevin Stefanski is a legit candidate for multiple head coaching vacancies and it may make more sense to go ahead and embrace change now -- with less than five teams currently searching for coaches -- then it would be to wade into what could be much deeper waters a year from now.
They already have a proven head coach on staff in Gary Kubiak, should he be willing to take on that job again, and recently fired Giants coach Pat Shurmur did tremendous work in Minnesota as an offensive coordinator prior to going to New York. Suffice to say, the Vikings would have no shortage of options if ownership made a move next week. As for Zimmer, Jerry Jones loves him in Dallas, and a return to the Cowboys in some capacity would not be shocking at all.

@"Ralphie" said:

@"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! ;)

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

That would make 5 picks in the top 100 or so. Ammo to grab Kinlaw.

@"Ralphie" said: Here we go...

Zimmer could be gone if Vikings lose to SaintsAt this point, I would be surprised if Mike Zimmer remains the Vikings head coach next week should his team get thumped by the Saints. What began as a whisper around league circles has now grown closer to a scream, and ownership there is getting frustrated with being good … but not great.
The Wilf family didn't spend huge bucks across the roster with big signings and massive extensions to be comfortable just going out in the wild card round. The 2020 season was already set up as a pivotal one, with Kirk Cousins and Zimmer both in the final year of their deals, and executives around the NFL are convinced that big changes could be coming quickly in Minnesota if this team does not perform well in the playoffs.
Zimmer can be a handful and his tendency to wear out and churn through offensive coordinators has not gone unnoticed. Current OC Kevin Stefanski is a legit candidate for multiple head coaching vacancies and it may make more sense to go ahead and embrace change now -- with less than five teams currently searching for coaches -- then it would be to wade into what could be much deeper waters a year from now.
They already have a proven head coach on staff in Gary Kubiak, should he be willing to take on that job again, and recently fired Giants coach Pat Shurmur did tremendous work in Minnesota as an offensive coordinator prior to going to New York. Suffice to say, the Vikings would have no shortage of options if ownership made a move next week. As for Zimmer, Jerry Jones loves him in Dallas, and a return to the Cowboys in some capacity would not be shocking at all.

Hmm Wilf just gave him a vote of confidence.  Of course that almost always precedes a guy getting the axe, lol.   In any case Kubiak is not a candidate, doesn't want a head job and has made that clear repeatedly.

 

Vikes defense needs an overhaul and Zim has shown he can identify and develop defensive talent.

If Zim was replaced the new HC or DC would have a tall task. 

Continuity matters and IMO  it'd be a bad idea to bet the organization future on a guy that "might" be the answer.

In just Zimmer's 2nd season as a first time HC, he took this team to a division title at 11-5 and we were a fluke missed FG from winning a playoff game and advancing.  The next season we were a Super Bowl favorite until Teddy went down right before the first game.  A panic move of bringing in Bradford led to a 8-8 season, however we rebounded the following season to go 13-3 win the division again and made it the NFC championship game.  Last year with Cousins, we missed out on the last day of the season, but we are back in the playoffs again.  Without the Teddy injury, things could have been very different for this team, I believe we would have been in a Super Bowl and I do believe we are close to getting there and I think Zimmer is the guy who can lead us there. 

@"Wetlander" said: 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.

Amen to that. 

Like a lot of things in life, it's much better to be running to something vs away.

Until someone tells me what that something is? I can only say "hard pause" on curbing Zimmer right now. 

Now ask me again Sunday night if we get smoked on Sunday  :p

What sticks in my mind about the 2015 Lambeau win is how badly the team WANTED it... and that I don't think I've seen them play like that since in 4 years.  So many times they've come out flatter than a zombie's EEG.  Whatever Zimmer's saying is going right through their skulls without interruption. 

I would not want to see Zimmer or Spielman go. I'd love to see Stefanski back for at least one more year, but if he were to go, at least we still have Kubiak and his kid who might be groomed for that OC position.

Something I don't see getting a lot of run here is that Zimmer is a hard ass in a League with more and more Player-friendly Coaches. Could very well be that his style has finally started to wear on the team and would possibly explain why they've been so flat in so many big games the last few years