Mike Zimmer is back on an NFL sideline

After a couple of years away

After a couple of years away, former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is back on an NFL sideline.

Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network is reporting that the Dallas Cowboys are expected to hire Zimmer to fill their defensive coordinator vacancy. Zimmer will take the spot that had been occupied by Dan Quinn, who was hired to be the head coach of the Washington Commanders earlier this offseason.

Zimmer served as the head coach of the Vikings for eight seasons from 2014 to 2021. During that time, he took the Vikings to the playoffs three times and reached one NFC Championship Game en route to compiling a record of 74-59-1. That’s the third-most victories for a coach in Vikings’ history, trailing Bud Grant and Denny Green in that category.

Zimmer got his coaching start in Dallas back in 1994. He first served as the team’s defensive backs coach before being promoted to the defensive coordinator spot in 2000. He held that role with the Cowboys until 2006, when he left to become the defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons under Bobby Petrino. After famously calling Petrino out when he quit before the end of the 2007 season, Zimmer moved on to be the defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2008, a position he held until the Vikings hired him after the 2013 season.

Unless the Vikings and the Cowboys meet in the playoffs this coming season, Zimmer won’t get a shot at his former team until the 2025 season when the Vikings are scheduled to make a road trip to Jerryworld.

Congratulations to Mike Zimmer on getting back into the NFL coaching ranks after a couple of years away. His time in Minnesota had pretty clearly run its course, but he’s still a pretty darn good football coach and now just has to concentrate on defense down in Dallas.