Bud Grant may be a Minnesota Vikings legend, but he really likes what the team’s current head coach, Mike Zimmer, is doing with the franchise.
There’s a lot to love about the Minnesota Vikings at the halfway point of the 2017 NFL season. The team currently sits at 6-2 entering their bye week and look to finish strong and return to the postseason.
In addition, Minnesota has had to overcome injuries at some of the most high-profile positions. They have had to play games without their starting quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and offensive linemen, but still find ways to win.
A lot of credit for the Vikings success to this point has to be given to head coach Mike Zimmer. The tough coach has helped to turn around the defense and change the mentality of the franchise since his arrival in 2014.
One person who is very pleased with Zimmer is former Minnesota head coach Bud Grant. With a similar tough coaching style, Grant led the Vikings from 1967 to 1983 plus one more season in 1985 and had the team winning 62.1% of their games as well as the 1969 NFL Championship.
Praise isn’t something Bud Grant gives easily. However, he had no reason talking about how Mike Zimmer has fared as the Vikings head coach since his arrival. He spoke about that on the Star Tribune website:
"“He understands defense, but he also understands one of the most important things in coaching is you have to understand the personalities and put them in the right spots,” Grant said. “He understands who can play and puts them in position to be successful. He is a great defensive coach.”"
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The Vikings have taken on a completely different mentality under Mike Zimmer. Gone are the days of the Tampa 2 defense, veterans no longer were given a significant advantage on the depth chart, and guys were drafted to fit the things he wanted to do on defense.
Minnesota’s fast, young, athletic defense is a key to why the team has given up the 3rd fewest yards per game, the second best 3rd down stop percentage, and 10 takeaways.
Bud Grant sees all the talent on the Vikings roster and feels that with the bye week in Week 9 allowing time for players to heal up, the sky could be the limit for Minnesota this season.
"“This team is good enough. With the bye week, everyone can get healthier and make a run here at the end. There is no telling how far we can go. We are in the mix.”"
Next: Week 9 Vikings power rank recap
Many fans have drawn similarities between Mike Zimmer and Bud Grant since 2014. So far, Zimmer is living up to the hype despite so many obstacles. However, only time will tell how far the 2017 Minnesota Vikings will go.