Challenging 2016 Behind Him, Mike Zimmer Wants to Make Good on an Old Promise
https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/09/13/mike-zimmer-minnesota-vikings-coach-eye-surgery
To listen to the men who have worked with Zimmer is to believe that this country music fan with one good eye (and “no ass,” according to Vikings cornerback Terence Newman, who says, “I don’t know how his jeans stay up”) has a better rapport with his largely twentysomething, mostly African-American roster than any coach in the league.
“I’m not gonna say he’s a players’ coach, because he hates that,” says Minnesota safety Harrison Smith. “Other coaches, the way they talk to players, it’s just not ... real. Nothing about is fabricated, nothing’s fake.”“I didn’t know Mike when I went to Dallas,” says Bill Parcells, who took over the Cowboys five years after Switzer resigned. But Parcells soon saw that his new defensive coordinator “was passionate, committed. He was a tireless worker. Cared about players. I inherited some people who weren’t like that. But Mike was a guy I gravitated to.”
“It’s like he grew up in the inner city, man,” says Sanders. “He relates to everyone. And he’s intelligent. What Zim said was going to happen in a game, it happened. When your best players see that and start buying in, then everybody follows.”
That was the path the Vikings were on one year ago. Coming off a 2015 season in which quarterback Teddy Bridgewater emerged as a budding star and the Vikes snapped the Packers’ string of four division titles, expectations were high. They had but one flaw. “I can still remember talking to Rick before last season and saying, ‘Man, if Teddy goes down, we’re in trouble,’” Zimmer says. “ ‘We can’t lose Teddy.’”
In August 2015, Mike got a call from one of his daughters, with word from Florida. “I was in Mankato, so the Wilfs flew me down there. My daughter asked, ‘Why don’t you watch practice with him?’ So I gave him the iPad. His eyes lit up, and he just sat there. That was his happiest day in the hospital.” He died about a week later, at age 84.
The day of the funeral, Zimmer got a call from Teddy Bridgewater’s mother, Rose Murphy. “She was calling to offer condolences. And I said something to her about Teddy, what a great young man he is—and she stops me. She said, ‘I didn’t call you to talk about Teddy. I called to talk about your dad.’”
That’s the kind of football family Zimmer wants to create. The gesture reminded him of Vikki, whose spirit still guides him. “My kids and I still ask each other, ‘What would Vikki do?’” Zimmer says. They asked that question when considering what to do with the Jet Ski sitting in their Texas garage. It was given in the end to the guy who maintained the property. And they asked it when deciding on the appropriate enrollment fee for Zimmer’s youth camp in Minnesota. “Vikki would have said, ‘Make it free,’” Mike says. “So we did.”
There are modest expectations for the Vikings of 2017, but Zimmer believes that Bradford, his young playmakers and a rejuvenated defense will rise to the challenge because of what they endured last year. “We’re mentally tougher than everybody else,” he says with his vintage candor.
One of the last stops on the tour of Zimmer’s house is the bar area downstairs, where he keeps a stone that was given to him by Hall of Famer Bud Grant, the iconic Vikings coach. “You may not have what every coach needs: a good luck rock,” Grant scrawled in the accompanying note. “This is an unpolished agate from the shores of Lake Superior, my home. Every little bit helps.”
Zimmer laughs. “I need it,” he says.
Interesting that he learned so much from Switzer. Always had the notion that Barry was a tool, but I kinda wondered where Zim got that.
I carry a small rock in my pocket everyday. Its a tactile reminder to be grateful for the things I have in my life. If I knew it could carry luck with it, I'd hold it constantly :)
Nice article!
After reading this I can see why the players love him - Interesting that Neon Deon still calls him alot, and has so much praise and respect for our HC. Nice to read this stuff. And friggin LOVE his property! Damn - that would one awesome place to own and live! Just beautiful!
That was such a great read. Coach Zimmer is toughness personified and such a compassionate person. He is relatable to so many kinds of people because he's genuine. And after 8 eyes surgeries, I don't blame him for wanting to get rid of the eye. The culture change to the team, fan base, community and the whole organization has been huge. I love how the sense of community and family is embraced. Reading about the work his foundation is doing is always awesome. He's such a fighter. I am rooting for him.
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