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Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer: ‘I get ansy’ without football

By Adam Carlson

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Minnesota Vikings fans know Mike Zimmer as a hard-nosed head coach who has led the team to a much improved defense in only one season with the squad.  That kind of turnaround is amazing and takes someone with a sound football mind to accomplish.

Zimmer’s mind isn’t always on football though.  There are times that he allows himself to get away from the sport and enjoy some of the simpler things in life.  Playbooks, rosters, player development, schedules and all that other football-related information can take a back seat for a while.  But not for too long.

A recent article on the Pioneer Press website had a great interview with Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer where he discussed what he likes to do during the offseason.  One of the major factors is to get away from it all, if just for a little bit.

"“The first 10 days, you don’t even think about football. Then I get antsy. You want to get back to work. You can only do this so long. After a while it’s time to go. I was watching (film) cut-ups the other day on the plane.”"

So, where does Mike Zimmer go to get away?  He heads to a patch of land near Walton, Kentucky that he purchased 4 months before joining the Minnesota Vikings.  It’s approximately 80 acres of woodland and water, where he enjoys hunting, fishing, riding his ATV, and shooting clay pigeons.

"“I kind of bought this place for me. I’ve got plenty of places I can hunt. But it’s their land. You want to plant soybeans, plant ’em. You want to put trees up, do it.”"

And if you want to chase down muskrats, you can do that too.  Here’s the video on Zimmer hunting down one of those pests on Brian Murphy’s YouTube channel:

Mike Zimmer’s vacation will come to an end soon though.  The Vikings are scheduled to report to Minnesota for their training camp tomorrow (Saturday, July 25, 2015).  You can bet that Zimmer will be back to business as usual when he steps on that field.  Just the way we like him.

Next: Minnesota Vikings 2015 Game By Game Previews

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