Mike Zimmer on Uncertain Job Status: 'I Can Stand Proud' Regardless of What Happens
For the first time, Mike Zimmer has publicly acknowledged that he knows Sunday's game against the Bears could be his last as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.
No decision on Zimmer's job — or Rick Spielman's for that matter — has been made just yet, as the Wilfs are meeting this week to discuss potential changes. But one has to assume that two straight losing seasons featuring subpar defenses might signal the end of the line for Zimmer, who has led the Vikings to three playoff appearances in eight years.
And although he said earlier this week that he hasn't heard from ownership yet, it seems like he knows losing his job next week is a possibility. In his weekly interview with Vikings radio announcer Paul Allen, Zimmer opened up about the swirling rumors.
“Regardless of anything that goes on after the season, I can stand proud," he said. “When I walk into a stadium like Lambeau or I walk in U.S. Bank Stadium and I say to myself, ‘A billion people would love to be standing here right now and doing this job.'"
Zimmer got off to a strong start to his Vikings tenure after being hired in 2014, winning the NFC North twice in his first four seasons and leading Minnesota to the conference title game in 2017. From 2015 to 2019, his defenses were among the league's best year in and year out. But the Kirk Cousins era has produced just one playoff appearance in four years, the Vikings have had a different offensive coordinator for six straight seasons, and Zimmer's defenses have fallen off in a big way over the past two years.
That's why there's so much speculation about whether or not he'll be brought back for a ninth season.
"I've tried my best every single week," Zimmer said. "To me, what's important is the players and trying to give them my very best each and every time I go out there. I broke a tooth off about eight weeks ago and still haven't been to the dentist, I almost lost my eye a couple years ago. There's all kinds of things that I've tried to do here."
It's true that Zimmer has been through it all over the past eight years. "The book is going to be a good book when I write it," he said back before this season started. There should be no questioning of how much Zimmer cares about his players, how hard he works, and how much he wants to win a Super Bowl with the Vikings.
If the decision is indeed made to move in a different direction at head coach, it'll just be because the Wilfs deemed that it was time to try something new.
Until then, Zimmer will likely continue to have to deal with a lot of talk about the uncertainty of it all.
“I do think it’s different that people can talk about your job and being let go and things like that, not understanding the effects of all your coaches, effects of all the players, effects of their families," Zimmer said. "They say it after you lose every week. They don’t go around saying they should fire that doctor or fire that landscape guy or anything like that. So it’s just part of the business, I guess."
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