Comments From Vikings Players Shed Light on Team's Culture Problem Under Mike Zimmer
When teams make a change in leadership, people who may have had issues with the former regime sometimes feel like they no longer have to bite their tongue. That will typically display itself in subtle parting shots, though it can certainly be blatant at times as well.
The Vikings fired Mike Zimmer on Monday morning, ending his eight-year tenure as their head coach. On the surface, it was an easy decision based on two straight years of underperformance, specifically from Zimmer's defenses. But there may have been more to it than just that.
It's believed that the reason Zimmer didn't get a head coaching gig until he was in his late 50s was because his gruff personality didn't mesh with everyone. That didn't go away when he was hired by the Vikings. When they were mostly winning games at a high level from 2015-19, it didn't matter much. But when the success dried up over the last two seasons, the team's culture problem became a bigger issue.
Vikings veteran players and locker room leaders Eric Kendricks and Brian O'Neill both alluded to that this afternoon.
"I think from an overall standpoint, [you want] a culture where communication is put at the forefront and no matter what your role is on the staff, you having a voice and being able to communicate things that you think could help facilitate wins," Kendricks said. "I think just having that voice, no matter how big your role is, is important, to listen up and take each other's feelings into account. I don't think a fear-based organization is the way to go."
The most telling part of that answer is the very end. That sure sounds like Kendricks implying that there was a level of fear and intimidation that existed under Zimmer. As for how the two got along, Kendricks said he "felt like there were some things left out there as far as our relationship is concerned."
It's no secret that Zimmer is a classic old-school coach, a cantankerous leader who isn't afraid to rip into players. He takes after one of his mentors, Bill Parcells, in that sense. Some players like being coached hard like that. Others don't. This two-part November 2020 story from Tyler Dunne at Go Long sheds a lot of details on who Zimmer is as a coach.
There's nothing wrong with being a strict disciplinarian. But things added up over the years for Zimmer, who primarily coached the defense yet always had criticisms of the offense when things weren't going well. That's how the Vikings wound up with six different offensive coordinators in six years and caused Stefon Diggs to demand a trade out of Minnesota. Zimmer just rubbed some players the wrong way, and it's hard to justify that when the team isn't winning.
It'll be interesting to see if the Vikings go in the opposite direction from Zimmer with their next head coach. From a football sense, that would mean hiring an offensive-minded coach. But from a human sense, it would mean hiring a young, personable coach who is able to relate to players and build better relationships with them. The term people usually use is "player's coach."
Ideally, you find someone who can strike that balance, someone who can get along well with players but still be strict and tough when needed.
"I just want to get better at my craft, but it's also about becoming better people as well," Kendricks said. "Obviously, the Xs and Os are one thing, it's about winning games. But the best coaches I've had are the ones that have made me a better person off the field and people that I would want to surround myself with and just consider them an ear I can talk to and get things off my chest. Not necessarily football-related but just about life in general."
O'Neill echoed similar sentiments.
“I think everybody coming in as a rookie, and young guys being able to come in and feel comfortable with who they are and have a belief in themselves in terms of, they’re going to be able to contribute," he said when asked what constitutes a good team culture. "And having young guys coming in, feeling good about their roles and how they’re going to be able to contribute, and then at the same time, everybody being aligned — from the bottom to the top, the top to the bottom — and pushing the ship in the same direction. I think having a positive, winning culture where guys are held accountable and push each other every day is kind of where we need to go."
O'Neill mentioned things like wanting to work in a collaborative, enjoyable environment and the potential benefit of "getting some more energy in the building."
The fact that he brought up young players specifically is also very interesting, given Zimmer's famous disdain for rookies. It was just over a week ago that Zimmer publicly took a shot at rookie QB Kellen Mond after a game. A week later, less than 24 hours before his firing, he declined to give Justin Jefferson the opportunity to break Randy Moss's single-season Vikings receiving record, which clearly meant a lot to the superstar second-year WR. Third-round picks Wyatt Davis, Patrick Jones II, and Chazz Surratt were buried on the depth chart all season. You have to wonder how many rookies or young players came to the Vikings and just couldn't handle Zimmer's coaching style.
Vikings owner and president Mark Wilf spoke on Monday about wanting to find strong "leaders, communicators, and collaborators" when searching for a new head coach and GM. If O'Neill is any indication, it sounds like players will appreciate that.
"I think it could be even something as little as, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ in the hallway," O'Neill said. "We spend so much time together and the season is so long that little personal things here or there could make a huge difference for a young guy, or a rookie who is coming in and isn’t really sure how he fits or if he belongs. Little different personal things like that, because guys play their best when they feel good about themselves and their role within a team.
"The more we can cultivate a culture that guys feel good about being themselves and that they’re important to the team and that everyone is in this together, and when young players start to learn that earlier on, they start to do better, and that everybody is behind us and all of our successes and failures go together. The more we can all understand as coaches and players that we’re in this thing together, I think would go a long way in making this a better place."
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