Minnesota Vikings: 10 easy predictions for 2019 to set expectations
By Tim Arcand
Mike Zimmer puts to rest any doubts about his position as head coach
In five seasons as the Vikings’ head coach, Mike Zimmer has a 47-32-1 record and 1-2 playoff record. His 47 wins place him fourth in franchise history behind Jerry Burns (52), Dennis Green (97) and Bud Grant (158).
Zimmer’s problem has been the inability to put together back-to-back winning seasons. The 8-7-1 mark last season following an unexpected 13-3 record in 2017 just doesn’t cut it as a winning mark.
To his credit, he inherited a truly awful defense that ranked 32nd in point allowed and 31st in yards in 2013 and quickly turned things around. Within a year, he raised the defense to 11th in scoring and 14th in yards allowed.
The defense improved to the top-ranked unit in scoring and yards in 2017. The defense slipped a bit last season, but still remained in the top-10 for both scoring (9th) and yards allowed (4th).
Known as a defensive guru, Zimmer is not too proud to add experts to his coaching staff to run the offense. During his tenure as head coach, he is not hesitant to add former head coaches to run the offense. In his first season as head coach, he added Norv Turner as the offensive coordinator.
In 2016, following added former head coaches Pat Shurmur to coach the tight ends and Tony Sparano to coach the offensive line. A lot of the credit for a 13-3 season in 2017 should go to these gentlemen. Unfortunately neither would be a part of the staff in 2018. Sparano passed away unexpectedly at the start of the season and Shurmur moved on to become the Giants head coach.
Zimmer has gone back to this route of adding former head coaches to his staff with the addition of Gary Kubiak as Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Advisor. Kubiak a former head coach for the Broncos and Texans brings an 82-75 record to the Vikings and will be someone to help offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski improve the offense in 2019.
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Based on Zimmer’s up and down seasonal record, look for the Minnesota Vikings to have a successful season in 2019 and return to the playoffs. However, don’t count on a Super Bowl run quite yet. After all, it’s been 43 years and five coaches since that has happened.