Spielman on adapting in the Zimmer era

Well, honestly....this was Zimmer's rep before he became Viking's HC. Its why no other team hired him in that capacity. If Minnesota didn't hire him as HC, he would have never become one.

@"StickyBun" said: Well, honestly....this was Zimmer's rep before he became Viking's HC. Its why no other team hired him in that capacity. If Minnesota didn't hire him as HC, he would have never become one.

Well, that's Spielman's job...  be adaptable.  Did he forget how he praised Zimmer for how he retooled the front offices approach to scouting?  More collaboration and identifying specific traits he wanted in his football players?  Seems like Spielman in getting in on the Zimmer pile...  

@"Wetlander" said: Well, that's Spielman's job...  be adaptable.  Did he forget how he praised Zimmer for how he retooled the front offices approach to scouting?  More collaboration and identifying specific traits he wanted in his football players?  Seems like Spielman in getting in on the Zimmer pile...  

It really just makes you wonder why Zim wasn't fired earlier. Also makes me wonder if the fact that they were not on "speaking terms" is the reason the Wilfs changed their minds on Rick. 

If I'm not on speaking terms with my boss, I can see why I might get fired. But my boss probably would too. It's juvenile on both parts. 

@"MaroonBells" said: It really just makes you wonder why Zim wasn't fired earlier. Also makes me wonder if the fact that they were not on "speaking terms" is the reason the Wilfs changed their minds on Rick. 

If I'm not on speaking terms with my boss, I can see why I might get fired. But my boss probably would too. It's juvenile on both parts. 

As far as Spielman getting axed, I'm sure that was part of it.  Like I said before both him and Zim were fired...  If you're HC and GM aren't on the same page in how to build a team...  it never ends well.  I feel like they were in "lock step" the first four years, but it started to unravel when we signed Kirk and the roster turnover started happening in 2020 and 2021.  Plus you can point to the first round busts that started to pile up in recent years (Jefferson is the only bright spot from the first round in our past couple drafts), continual weaknesses of the roster weren't addressed, and Spielman's panic trades all played into it as well.

@"Wetlander" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: It really just makes you wonder why Zim wasn't fired earlier. Also makes me wonder if the fact that they were not on "speaking terms" is the reason the Wilfs changed their minds on Rick. 

If I'm not on speaking terms with my boss, I can see why I might get fired. But my boss probably would too. It's juvenile on both parts. 

Some of this stuff is being overblown, IMO...  probably a lot of frustration amongst the coaches, FO, and players about how the past two seasons went and the media loves a good story.

As far as Spielman getting axed, I'm sure that was part of it.  Like I said before both him and Zim were fired...  If you're HC and GM aren't on the same page in how to build a team...  it never ends well.  I feel like they were in "lock step" the first four years, but it started to unravel when we signed Kirk and the roster turnover started happening in 2020 and 2021.  Plus you can point to the first round busts that started to pile up in recent years (Jefferson is the only bright spot from the first round in our past couple drafts), continual weaknesses of the roster weren't addressed, and Spielman's panic trades all played into it as well.

I think we got a glimpse of why Rick was let go when a player was quoted something along the lines that he was Billy Beane in Moneyball wandering around the building. Based on everything I’ve read between the lines they each individually earned their own way out.

On Zimmer, holy crap have I heard some stuff the last couple of weeks. Not just in the media either. He seemed to have a very warped sense of offense and what constituted success and a habit of minimizing his own weaknesses as a defensive coach. 
The team is in way better shape with Zimmer gone. The Wilf’s are a really patient group, which is usually good, but it was probably to the teams detriment the past couple of years.

From what I’ve heard, I doubt things are blown out of proportion. I think things were considerably worse than we’ll probably ever really know. 

@"Havoc1649" said: I think we got a glimpse of why Rick was let go when a player was quoted something along the lines that he was Billy Beane in Moneyball wandering around the building. Based on everything I’ve read between the lines they each individually earned their own way out.

On Zimmer, holy crap have I heard some stuff the last couple of weeks. Not just in the media either. He seemed to have a very warped sense of offense and what constituted success and a habit of minimizing his own weaknesses as a defensive coach. 

The team is in way better shape with Zimmer gone. The Wilf’s are a really patient group, which is usually good, but it was probably to the teams detriment the past couple of years.

From what I’ve heard, I doubt things are blown out of proportion. I think things were considerably worse than we’ll probably ever really know. 

Well good.  Put the right people in place and watch the ship get righted. 

Interesting....

@"MaroonBells" said: Interesting....

@SkolHype

Ryan Longwell on Ben Leber’s podcast says: He called the Vikings the day after Daniel Carlson’s rough day at Lambeau, noticing it was all mechanical issues that could easily be fixed, offering to help. They never returned his calls that Monday, & Vikings cut Carlson the next day.

4 years later, and  with what Carlson has since done in Vegas,   Priefer missed it, completely.

 

Daniel Carlson was cut 1000% by Mike Zimmer. In fact, Zimmer said he considered it an “easy decision”. 
Zimmer did later express something you might call regret on the move. It’s about as close as I’ve ever seen him be to admitting he was wrong. 
“I mean, do I have regrets?” Zimmer said. “I like our kicker who we have now, but did I second guess it? Sure. He’s done great there, and I think he’s a very, very talented kid. I wish him well, just not this week. But no, I’m happy for him and in retrospect, I guess, yeah, I’ve thought about it many times.”

“Some coaches are just, ‘This is what we run, and this is what we have to have, and if they don’t fit this, then I don’t want them.’ - Spielman
This right here! 
Zim was a guy who didn’t want to adapt to anyone’s style of play. With as many OC’s they went through, how do you keep the continuity of it all. I think that’s why Kubiak Jr. was appointed OC after his daddy left. But, only drafting people that fit a specific mold is really tough. You have to pass on certain players who are just better if you’re going to have a coach who won’t adapt to a certain level of talent.

Look at how Jerry Burns reacted to the Herschel Walker trade. He didn’t want to line him up in the I formation, and wanted him to be more like Darrin Nelson, which obviously he wasn’t. Burns hard edge on making Walker fit his offense was ignorant.

According to reports Zimm apparently has a great chance of being the new defensive coordinator in Dallas should
Dan Quinn land a head coaching gig. 

To me that's a pretty lateral move if the Vikings were to hire Quinn 

@"supafreak84" said: According to reports Zimm apparently has a great chance of being the new defensive coordinator in Dallas should Dan Quinn land a head coaching gig. 

To me that's a pretty lateral move if the Vikings were to hire Quinn 

The most interesting part to me was the talk about finding offensive linemen to fit the different schemes that the OC's were running.

“That’s a tough part of the job,” said Spielman. “I think we went through maybe six different during coach Zimmer’s era. …It was constantly like a moving target all the time.”

“You try to do your best to adapt and the guys that we do have, can you do some things from your scheme to maybe adjust a little bit to their skill set? But when you have the coaching turnover that it is and you’re always trying to marry up the personnel to the scheme, are there ways that some of these coaches and you see some of them doing some things that say, ‘Hey, I have to adjust my scheme to what the players can do as well,’” said Spielman.

“Some coaches are just, ‘This is what we run, and this is what we have to have, and if they don’t fit this, then I don’t want them.’ Some coaches—and just listening to a lot of coaching interviews and stuff like that—, ‘I can do this with this player, and I know we can potentially adjust our scheme to fit what he does best.’”
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This is interesting and revealing.  It seems to me that Spielman did as much as he could to find the players that fit the schemes more often than not.  And, as he correctly pointed out, when that scheme changes, well, you're asking a lot.

I think, in retrospect, that Spielman should have put his foot down and told the coaches he was drafted the best player (specifically interior linemen) and that the coaches need to adapt.

@"kmillard" said:

@"supafreak84" said: According to reports Zimm apparently has a great chance of being the new defensive coordinator in Dallas should Dan Quinn land a head coaching gig. 

To me that's a pretty lateral move if the Vikings were to hire Quinn 

I want nothing to do with Quinn. That would be the excitement level of the last few years.