Minnesota Vikings Mike Zimmer ranked as #13 head coach by CBS Sports

Fans of the Minnesota Vikings have learned to love head coach Mike Zimmer and he continues to earn respect around the league as he gains experience.

There was a time when Mike Zimmer wasn’t seen as an NFL caliber head coach. Despite finding success as a positional coach and defensive coordinator, he struggled to find a team willing to give him a shot until the Minnesota Vikings finally gave him an opportunity.

When the Vikings moved on from Leslie Frazier after the 2013 NFL season, the team started a search to find the new head coach. They brought in several candidates to interview for the position but eventually went with Zimmer.

Under their new head coach, Minnesota’s defense went from one of the worst units in the league to one of the best. Despite only being a head coach for only three seasons, he has already become well-respected among league experts and fans.

In fact, Pete Prisco at CBS Sports did his annual ranking of NFL quarterback and placed Mike Zimmer at #13 in his article titled Ranking every NFL head coach, from Bill Belichick to the Class of 2017.

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Here is what he had to say about Zimmer:

"“It’s hard to evaluate him based on an injury-decimated 2016. No coach, not even Belichick, could have sustained success through that, and yet Zimmer got the Vikings to 8-8. The year before, Zimmer led the Vikings to a division title in his second season. I think that’s more of who he is as a coach than last season. His fiery approach is perfect for the modern NFL player. The offensive coordinator issues last season — with Norv Turner walking away — stain his résumé a little.”"

Whether or not blame can be placed on Zimmer for Turner’s sudden exit from the Vikings is debatable, and his eye problems which forced him to miss a game during the 2016 NFL season were not mentioned in the piece.

However, his ‘fiery approach’ to coaching has endeared him to fans, and will likely lead to even more success down the line.

Next: Zimmer still working on eye recovery

Congratulations to Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer on gaining so much respect in such a short period of time. If he can bring the team back to the playoffs for the 2017 season, he could find himself ranked even higher on next year’s list.