Kellen Mond on Zimmer: "We never spoke. Not once."
https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/onsi/news/ex-vikings-qb-kellen-mond-bashes-mike-zimmer-linkedin-post
Former Vikings quarterback and draft bust Kellen Mond, who most recently played in the United Football League, is now an artist and photographer who also posts influencer content on LinkedIn.
Mond's most recent post talks about his rookie year with the Vikings in 2021, specifically through the lens of the disconnect between Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman in their final year together before both were fired. Much of the information is stuff that's been made public in the past, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Mond's post starts like this: "When I was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, my head coach walked out of the draft room. We never spoke. Not once."
Zimmer walking out when Spielman took Mond in the third round of the '21 draft is something the former eight-year Vikings head coach revealed in an August 2024 interview with the Star Tribune. Mond saying the two never had a single conversation that year is remarkable. An NFL head coach and a rookie QB not talking for an entire season is hard to fathom.
Mond's post then talks about how the Zimmer-Spielman relationship began to sour as far back as 2018, when the Vikings signed Kirk Cousins in free agency. Zimmer not wanting Cousins is another dynamic that's become pretty well-known since that regime ended. Mond said he never saw Zimmer and Spielman speak during that 2021 season.
"Imagine the two most important people in any organization never talking," he wrote. "What happens to that business? It crumbles. And that's exactly what happened."
After the conclusion of an 8-9 season in 2021, both Zimmer and Spielman were let go. Only Spielman addressed the team after finding out.
"The GM addressed the team and thanked us for our hard work, effort and dedication," Mond wrote. "The head coach was nowhere to be found. His reasoning for not addressing the team and players: 'They got me fired.' That response told me everything I needed to know."
Zimmer saying "They got me fired" as his reasoning for not addressing his players after the final game is another detail that was revealed in Mark Craig's 2024 Star Tribune story.
Mond then wrapped up his LinkedIn post by talking about the business lesson he learned from working under Zimmer.
"(It) taught me an unforgettable leadership lesson: Every time you show up to work, you control the energy in the building. The way you act. The way you speak. Your body language. If you forget that enough times, don't be surprised when you have a disconnect with others in your organization. Leadership is an atmosphere you create, not a title you hold."
Mond, 26, was part of an infamous Vikings third round haul in 2021 that also included Pat Jones II and two other busts in linebacker Chazz Surratt and guard Wyatt Davis.
The most notable thing that happened during Mond's Vikings tenure came after a Week 17 game at Lambeau Field. Zimmer was asked if he wanted to see Mond play in the regular season finale the following week, to which he replied "not particularly." Asked why not, Zimmer said "I see him every day." It's one of the lasting memories of the end of the Zimmer era.
Mond had briefly entered that game in Green Bay, while Sean Mannion was banged up, and attempted three passes. They were the only regular season snaps he ever took with the Vikings (or any other NFL team). The former Texas A&M star was released in final roster cuts by Minnesota's new regime the following year.
After brief offseason stints with the Browns, Colts, and Saints, he played for the UFL's now-defunct San Antonio Brahmas in spring 2025. Mond isn't on a UFL roster for the upcoming season, which may signal the end of his football career.
Zimmer, 69, was out of the NFL for a couple years after being fired by the Vikings. He then spent the 2024 season as the Cowboys' defensive coordinator. He has since seemingly retired from coaching.
Vikesrock wrote:
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but Zimmer was right. He was right about Cousins and he was right about Mond. Neither should of ever been a Viking. Zimmer wanted to use very little capital on a QB to run his style of offense to complement his defense.After so many QB failures, Spielman was giving up. Cousins was his white flag. Don't get me wrong, Zimmer acted like a petulant child in the end, but I believe, to this day, that the Cousins signing more so then anything else, eroded Zimmmers defense, removed the identity of the team that he had built and eventually brought about their own demise. Zimmer was right on all of that. My guess is, if Zimmer had his way, maybe Teddy B or Sam Bradford was back, or some other QB is selected and a lot more capital would have been poured in to the defense. Zimmer had just been to the NFC Championship with freaking Case Keenum. Why was Spielman not listening to him and giving him everything he wanted?
I think the Vikings go back to the NFC Championship game in 2019 if Zimmer had his way and maybe a Super Bowl. Alas...it's all supposition now. Just my opinion.
You're right about one thing, "it's all supposition." We have no idea who Zimmer would have placed at QB. It may have actually been worse. If it was Bridgewater or Bradford, it definitely would have been worse. Both players had career threatening injuries at the time and neither would ever be the same again.
QBs as talented as Cousins never become available in free agency. When Cousins did, the Vikings jumped. And I'd say they were right to do so. Cousins played well in Minnesota. He was selected to the Pro Bowl 3 times while a Viking, and before you diminish the meaning of that, you might want to contemplate the kind of QB performance we got after he tore his achilles and the kind of QB performance we got this year. About as far away as you can get from Pro Bowl-level.
Did Cousins win us a Super Bowl? Nope. But just because something didn't work out the way we'd hoped does not make it a bad idea. Using that logic, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow are all busts.
StickierBuns wrote:
Zimmer, lol. Got only one HC gig because he's a red ass and never got another one again. Very good defensive coach. Ego the size of Texas. I was fine with him until I wasn't. He's not the kind of guy that has longevity in his DNA, way too much of an aggro personality.
The fact that he was 65 and had a litany of health issues didnt help his cause in getting another job. In a league always looking to get younger, that was a losing combination and hardly surprising.
StickierBuns wrote:
That had zero to do with it.
Wrong. Age played a large roll. If he were 20 years younger, guaranteed he would have landed another job.
McCarthy is 61 and just landed the Steelers HC job...I'm not convinced it's age either tbh. I mean it may have played a role, but I strongly suspect there were more important reasons he didnt ever get another hc gig (and never will.)
I think he went nuts at the end of his stint here and he couldn't shower that stench off for his interview.
Need to remind myself the guy has lost a wife and buried a child, so too many personal tragedies in a lifetime. I wish him good health and good memories as he spends the rest of his days at the ranch.
Hopefully his new wife is keeping him feeling young.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
McCarthy is 61 and just landed the Steelers HC job...I'm not convinced it's age either tbh. I mean it may have played a role, but I strongly suspect there were more important reasons he didnt ever get another hc gig (and never will.)
If you can win consistently, like Zimmer did, more times than not you'll get other opportunities in this league. I think the fact that he was already a "senior citizen" when he was fired had a lot to do with him not getting another chance. Like I said, if he was 20 years younger, he would have absolutely been given another job. Hell, Robert Saleh just got another job and Daboll probably gets the Bills job. Both those guys were awful and couldn't hold Zimm's jock strap when it comes to coaching. Just saying..
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