Rick And Mike Out

While Mike Zimmer's words in the past few days seemed to suggest he knew what was coming, Rick Spielman's ouster has a different feel. One source said the GM was "blindsided" by the move this morning.

— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) January 10, 2022

Wow. End of an era. Hopefully it’s onward and upward. Skol

@"HappyViking" said: I'm not surprised at all RS is gone.  No way can the recent FA signings that haven't panned out be blamed all on Zim for not "coaching them up".  The FA DL and DB rebuild headed by RS was a bust.  Also, we lost a 4th round pick for a TE rarely used.  Rick whiffs big as often or more than he hits HRs, IMO.

It wasn't surprising to me either if you look at the entirety of his tenure here.  I mean we can focus on some of his good draft classes, but at the end of the day...  he was in control of the 53-man roster (not Zimmer) and we have had recurring issues at key spots for years, we lacked vision on how to address those areas, and most importantly I think Rick lost sight of what a Zimmer team was and how we were successful in his first four years here.  It was time for a change.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/01/10/minnesota-vikings-mike-zimmer-era-what-could-have-been

Cleaning house was necessary. It's time for fresh eyes and a new approach.

I think Zimmer would have been fine with a mediocre QB, strong running game and a top tier D forever....

Man, that's a lot of $ the Wilfs just ate in guaranteed salary across those 2. I think it was $15m for Zimmer alone, no idea regarding RS

I am surprised they didnt kick Rick to somewhere else in the org. 

I too wonder who is guiding their decisions.

@"JustinTime18™" said: I'm surprised but not shocked that Rick is out.

He probably regrets not returning my calls now.

MF ghosted me too. 

One good decision, one bad. Vikings .500 so far in the off season. Par for the course I guess. 

Now if the Wilfs REALLY want to piss me off, hire Josh McDaniels and give him personnel control. 

@"purplefaithful" said: I think Zimmer would have been fine with a mediocre QB, strong running game and a top tier D forever....

Man, that's a lot of $ the Wilfs just ate in guaranteed salary across those 2. I think it was $15m for Zimmer alone, no idea regarding RS

I am surprised they didnt kick Rick to somewhere else in the org. 

I too wonder who is guiding their decisions.

I wonder if Brez and Stephenson are brought in to guide Mark and Zygi.

@"StickyBun" said: https://twitter.com/BenGoessling/status/1480549345896419331

Can we invite NJVike back to the board now?  =)

“Hey, Coach Flores, wanna come coach in Minnesota? We actually have an NFL QB you can coach.”

Flores: pic.twitter.com/LXy6fTaFwX

— The Daily Norseman (@DailyNorseman) January 10, 2022

It was the wrong year to lose Paton just 12 mos ago....

WHO SHOULD REPLACE HIM?If the Vikings hope to stay in the defensive realm (Zimmer replaced Leslie Frazier, now the Bills’ defensive coordinator and another potential head coaching candidate this cycle), I said on our last episode of The MMQB podcast that Matt Eberflus from the Colts makes a ton of sense for a few reasons. The first is that Eberflus has done more with less defensively than any coach I can remember in recent history. I’d love to see how he takes his stunt-heavy approach and pours that creativity into a Minnesota front that has some relative heft but not much else. Eberflus is disguising his coverages in ways the NFL has not seen. Might that be a helpful approach long-term against Aaron Rodgers? Also working for Eberflus is his ties to a Colts offensive staff that may be the next trendy “tree” from which a good deal of coordinators and QB coaches are plucked.

IT was clearly time for both to be gone.

@"JustinTime18™" said:

@"purplefaithful" said: I think Zimmer would have been fine with a mediocre QB, strong running game and a top tier D forever....

Man, that's a lot of $ the Wilfs just ate in guaranteed salary across those 2. I think it was $15m for Zimmer alone, no idea regarding RS

I am surprised they didnt kick Rick to somewhere else in the org. 

I too wonder who is guiding their decisions.

I wonder if Brez and Stephenson are brought in to guide Mark and Zygi.

I'm a Daboll in Buffalo or Pederson from the Eagles guy...

They probably should talk with Bienemy given his history here. He may be able to count to 12 correctly now. 

Its the GM search where I am completely blind - and thats a huge deal. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"JustinTime18™" said: I'm surprised but not shocked that Rick is out.

He probably regrets not returning my calls now.

MF ghosted me too. 

One good decision, one bad. Vikings .500 so far in the off season. Par for the course I guess. 

@"purplefaithful" said: I'm a Daboll in Buffalo or Pederson from the Eagles guy...

They probably should talk with Bienemy given his history here. He may be able to count to 12 correctly now. 

Its the GM search where I am completely blind - and thats a huge deal. 

IMO its the GMs job to find the coach that he wants to saddle his future with.  If those 2 arent lock step then its doomed to fail so IMO its a good idea to make sure the GM has a say in who hes building a team for.

@"MaroonBells" said: Now if the Wilfs REALLY want to piss me off, hire Josh McDaniels and give him personnel control. 

https://thevikingage.com/2022/01/10/bill-belichick-josh-mcdaniels-minnesota-vikings-head-coach/

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Brian Flores is the first coach in world history to get fired after a season where he won seven games in a row and went 2-0 vs. Bill Belichick.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) January 10, 2022