BREAKING NEWS: Zimmer Didn't Like Cousins
INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Zimmer spent part of his last few weeks as Vikings head coach bemoaning the team’s situation at quarterback.
The veteran defensive guru had made more of an effort to get the best out of Kirk Cousins in 2021, conducting weekly meetings with the quarterback for the first time in their four years together. But toward the end, it became clear to those within the building that the head coach-quarterback relationship hadn’t blossomed the way many had hoped it would before the season, according to sources.
Zimmer complained openly in coaching meetings about Cousins, and some of Zimmer’s top lieutenants echoed the sentiment. Zimmer didn’t feel the quarterback made enough “winning plays,” that he didn’t take the necessary shots to help lead the Vikings to victory, and that he didn’t elevate his teammates.
But that view wasn’t shared by everyone. Some, especially in the front office, thought Zimmer didn’t handle the situation well. They acknowledged to Zimmer that Cousins isn’t a perfect quarterback but felt Zimmer’s job as head coach was to get the most out of the quarterback — and undercutting his play in coaching meetings didn’t help.
The Vikings hope that drama is in the past. Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman were fired, replaced by Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. But the failed relationship between Zimmer and Cousins underscores a troubling point that the Vikings will have to grapple with under a new regime. Cousins has had two head coaches in his seven years as a starter, and both coaches left convinced they couldn’t win with him at the helm.
Now the attention turns to O’Connell. The Vikings have intimated that they hired the former Rams offensive coordinator with the hope that his scheme can get the best out of Cousins, even if rumors about a potential Cousins trade will surely swirl here this week at the NFL Scouting Combine.
If Cousins indeed remains with the Vikings as they’ve suggested he will, there’s no more important relationship within the franchise than O’Connell and Cousins. O’Connell has talked about an approach that would maximize Cousins’ talents, allowing him to play free and “quiet-minded.”
Perhaps he can find success with Cousins where Zimmer and former Washington coach Jay Gruden couldn’t. Zimmer left their relationship thinking that Cousins wasn’t good enough to win big. Gruden left frustrated that Cousins wouldn’t fit the ball into tight windows. Neither thought they were on the cusp of a Super Bowl with Cousins at quarterback.
Of course, it’s fair to note that not every assistant coach Cousins has worked with feels that way. Kyle Shanahan, Cousins’ former offensive coordinator, remains high on the quarterback and tried to land him in San Francisco after Shanahan became the head coach there. He liked Cousins’ accuracy and ability to process plays. He felt he needed a quarterback who comprehended both what the offense and defense were doing and could make the necessary throws after making the right reads. He thought Cousins could do all of that.
Maybe that’s why it’s enticing to picture Cousins with O’Connell, a Sean McVay disciple who shares similar philosophies with Shanahan. O’Connell helped squeeze success out of Jared Goff and produced a Super Bowl title with Matthew Stafford. His playbook is designed to make life easy for the quarterback. He said in his very first interview with the Vikings that his goal would be to bring the best out of Cousins, and it seems easier to trust that he’d be capable of that than Gruden or Zimmer.
“I know who (Cousins) is as a player, and I know what he’s capable of, and part of our job as coaches is maximizing a player’s ability to go out every single Sunday and have success,” O’Connell said. “I feel that’s going to be an advantage for us as we build our system offensively, make sure we really focus on the things Kirk does well, which I do think are a lot of aspects of playing the position, and help him on a daily basis connect with his team, lead us, be a completely quiet-minded quarterback that can go play because he’s talented enough to go do that.”
On the other hand, it’s hard to ignore how things ended with Cousins’ last two coaches.
There’s also the open question about Cousins’ contract. He has one year remaining on a deal that includes a $45 million cap hit this season, something that makes it hardly ideal to bring him back at that price. An extension, which could lower that number, is possible, but Cousins has offered no indication that he’d be willing to sign at a discount. Perhaps no NFL player has done a better job at leveraging his situation for a bigger contract than Cousins has throughout his career. In an offseason where some quarterbacks could sign extensions for more than $40 million per year, a Cousins extension likely wouldn’t come cheap.
The only other alternative is a trade. But with an ownership group advocating for another playoff season amid its goal of continued success, it’s hard to imagine the Vikings dealing him and improving since a Cousins trade would probably yield draft picks as compensation.
So those are the options the Vikings are left to consider as their new brass descends on Indianapolis for its first combine atop the organization.
If they choose to keep Cousins, it’ll be a bet on O’Connell and his ability to break the trend and connect with Cousins in a way that brings the best out of the quarterback. In many ways, he seems capable of that. He’s only three years older than Cousins, he’s a former NFL quarterback and he has spent his coaching career learning a system that’s supposed to make things easier for quarterbacks, one Cousins has previously had success in.
But after the last head coach left disenchanted with the quarterback, there’s no more important relationship for the Vikings than the one between Cousins and O’Connell.
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After 10 years in the league we know what Cousins can and can't do. You look at the arm, the stats, it's a shiny package that makes you go "wow". It made dopey Rick Spielman cream his pants. Then you get him on the field and he fails in critical situations. He's like a foreign sports car that breaks down all the time. "Hey gang, we're going to the beach today!" Half hour later, you never sniffed the beach, you're getting towed to the garage, towels in the trunk. And it started to rain. He's not a qb with that "it" factor--when you're down late and you need a score you want a guy like Mahomes, Brady, those types. You look over at your bench and see Kirk, you aren't feeling super confident that you can come back and win.
So why is KOC going to make that any different? He was Kirk's qb coach in Washington for a year, did Kirk do things then that he hasn't done since? I think Kirk is fool's gold for this new administration. Their smart move is to get rid of him and suck for a year or two while finding a way to acquire a real franchise qb. Otherwise they are running back the same results - Kirk's gravitational pull of his given franchise to .500 will remain intact, and these guys will be sitting there in year 3 or 4 going, oh crap we were wrong, do you think management will give us a few more years to figure it out? I doubt they will, fellers.
Nobodyy is going to change their take on KC.
But imo a new system, new coach, new climate....
These are things that can take a very productive QB and make them that much better. It's highly intuitive to me that it can make a big, big difference.
Comparing KOC/KC in Washington to now is apples to oranges.
@"purplefaithful" said: Nobodyy is going to change their take on KC.But imo a new system, new coach, new climate....
These are things that can take a very productive QB and make them that much better. It's highly intuitive to me that it can make a big, big difference.
Comparing KOC/KC in Washington to now is apples to oranges.
I get that people want to rationalize why it will work--they need/want it to work. Change stuff around and Kirk will be different! I personally doubt it. I think he will be the same Kirk he's always been.
@"JustinTime18™" said: In another revelation, Burnsie didn't want Walker!
I'll bet he didnt!
And then when he saw it was players + draft picks??
Cousins has that rep for a reason, but I got the feeling that he had started to overcome it in the Saints playoff win. Sometimes it was hard to tell if it was the OC or Kirk or both. Defenses like Chicago would kill our run game and we had nothing.
One of Zim's weakest coaching characteristics, IMO, over the last few years was openly putting his players under the bus rather than taking responsibility as a coach. To be fair, Kirk had how many different OCs and a head coach that didn't understand offense? I'm skeptical on KC but curious what he can do under KOC.
The lack of leadership displayed by Zimmer (and to some extent Spielman) over the last couple of seasons is alarming. To a certain extent, this might be caused by ownership in NY. With all that is leaking, I am not certain Zimmer will get another job.
@"VikingOracle" said: The lack of leadership displayed by Zimmer (and to some extent Spielman) over the last couple of seasons is alarming. To a certain extent, this might be caused by ownership in NY. With all that is leaking, I am not certain Zimmer will get another job.I wonder this too. He’s come out and said he wants to coach in 2022 but so far there don’t seem to be many suitors. He may have to take a big step down and become an LBs coach or something somewhere. Tice has had a pretty solid run as an OL coach after his HC days ended.
Jay Gruden and Zimmer...and we're questioning the QB...lol
@"VikingOracle" said: The lack of leadership displayed by Zimmer (and to some extent Spielman) over the last couple of seasons is alarming. To a certain extent, this might be caused by ownership in NY. With all that is leaking, I am not certain Zimmer will get another job.I would be alarming if he was still here...
Now its just down-right a bummer.
I may soften my stance over time, but right now? I feel pretty harshly towards Zimmer.
@"VikingOracle" said: The lack of leadership displayed by Zimmer (and to some extent Spielman) over the last couple of seasons is alarming. To a certain extent, this might be caused by ownership in NY. With all that is leaking, I am not certain Zimmer will get another job.Yea, as I predicted when it happened Zimmer is going to have a very difficult time getting another HC job. I think Spelly will have a much easier time at the GM level.
Going back to the OP - Zimmer did not like Cousins - I wanted Zimmer gone 3 years ago and I would prefer a way to move on without Cousins if we can get even a decent/fair trade.
Essentially - I don't like either one of them and I said so all last season. It was the first in 45 years of being a fan I did not like my teams HC and QB.
@"comet52" said:@"purplefaithful" said: Nobodyy is going to change their take on KC.But imo a new system, new coach, new climate....
These are things that can take a very productive QB and make them that much better. It's highly intuitive to me that it can make a big, big difference.
Comparing KOC/KC in Washington to now is apples to oranges.
I get that people want to rationalize why it will work--they need/want it to work. Change stuff around and Kirk will be different! I personally doubt it. I think he will be the same Kirk he's always been.
Well, if he'd produced the "same" yards/scores for the last 2 seasons with a functional defense, we'd likely have been in the playoffs at least one of the times. Hmmmm.
Zimmer complaining about the QB play when his defense gave up game-winning drives to the Cooper Rush Cowboys and 0-10-1 Detroit to keep us out of the playoffs is some Olympic-level denial.
This is going to be tough, since so many people dislike Kirk. But Zimmer didn't dislike Kirk, he disliked the concept of committing $30+M of the cap annually to a QB.
Openly complaining about Kirk during the season in which he (Zimmer) made numerous head scratching coaching decisions each game sure is something. Kirk isn't perfect but my god, have a look in the mirror Zimmer. I'll bet if you have a conversation with him today he would probably try to justify having the secondary so far off the Detroit receivers in the last drive. So glad that dbag is gone.
@"Hawkvike25" said: Openly complaining about Kirk during the season in which he (Zimmer) made numerous head scratching coaching decisions each game sure is something. Kirk isn't perfect but my god, have a look in the mirror Zimmer. I'll bet if you have a conversation with him today he would probably try to justify having the secondary so far off the Detroit receivers in the last drive. So glad that dbag is gone.Pretty sure Patrick Peterson spoke on that play, said that Dantzler was not playing that like they practiced. But I am sure that isn't why he was in Zim's doghouse, probably because Zimmer wanted him to play poorly and he wouldn't.
Blaming the coach for players not playing the position seems to be a meme around here. After Zimmer lost Rhodes, Waynes and Mac, his defense suffered immensely. Hard to form a good solid back end with a bunch of rookies and castoffs.
Hmm, maybe that is why he didn't want to spend $30 mil on Cousins.
@"greediron" said:@"Hawkvike25" said: Openly complaining about Kirk during the season in which he (Zimmer) made numerous head scratching coaching decisions each game sure is something. Kirk isn't perfect but my god, have a look in the mirror Zimmer. I'll bet if you have a conversation with him today he would probably try to justify having the secondary so far off the Detroit receivers in the last drive. So glad that dbag is gone. Pretty sure Patrick Peterson spoke on that play, said that Dantzler was not playing that like they practiced. But I am sure that isn't why he was in Zim's doghouse, probably because Zimmer wanted him to play poorly and he wouldn't.Blaming the coach for players not playing the position seems to be a meme around here. After Zimmer lost Rhodes, Waynes and Mac, his defense suffered immensely. Hard to form a good solid back end with a bunch of rookies and castoffs.
Hmm, maybe that is why he didn't want to spend $30 mil on Cousins.
I'm not just referring to the last play. I'm noting the entire drive our guys were at least 5 yards back from their receivers and we didnt blitz once. Dantzler shouldnt have been behind the guy but why were all guys at the end zone line? Pretty dumb call.I mentioned a couple weeks ago that all corners drafted by Zimmer in the first 3/4 rounds never signed their second contract with the Vikings. I highly doubt the sole reason for that is because Kirk made $30MM. We had a lot of other bad contracts during that time that were signed (Barr & Tagging Harris are two examples).
He didn't want Kirk, we know that. That's not his job though, that was Rick's. The HC isn't supposed to hold a grudge because you didn't want to pay high dollar for the best QB option that offseason. Vikes weren't going to win with Case, Teddy, or a rookie. Again, he needs to look in the mirror.
@"greediron" said:@"Hawkvike25" said: Openly complaining about Kirk during the season in which he (Zimmer) made numerous head scratching coaching decisions each game sure is something. Kirk isn't perfect but my god, have a look in the mirror Zimmer. I'll bet if you have a conversation with him today he would probably try to justify having the secondary so far off the Detroit receivers in the last drive. So glad that dbag is gone. Pretty sure Patrick Peterson spoke on that play, said that Dantzler was not playing that like they practiced. But I am sure that isn't why he was in Zim's doghouse, probably because Zimmer wanted him to play poorly and he wouldn't.Blaming the coach for players not playing the position seems to be a meme around here. After Zimmer lost Rhodes, Waynes and Mac, his defense suffered immensely. Hard to form a good solid back end with a bunch of rookies and castoffs.
Hmm, maybe that is why he didn't want to spend $30 mil on Cousins.
With all due respect, Zim would not have won with Rhodes, Waynes and Mac (and he spent a lot of draft capital on DBs). Under Zim, Rhodes raised his game to new heights but then came crashing down the last two seasons under Zimmer. Those last two years included 10 million dollar salaries. Wayne was good but made 20 million in 2020 (5 mill base and 15 mill signing bonus) and over 10 million last year and, because of injuries, hardly touched the field during those 2 seasons. And we all saw Mac this past season. I am not a big fan of Cousins but if you are talking about spending 30 million on Cousins or 30 million on Waynes and Rhodes (as Rhodes played his last 2 seasons) in 2020, well, the choice is fairly clear.
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