Will Mike Zimmer give up calling plays for the Vikings defense in 2020?

The Minnesota Vikings head coach recently commented about his chances of continuing to be the defensive play-caller for the team during the 2020 season.

Since he was hired by the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, head coach Mike Zimmer has called the plays for the team’s defense.

Zimmer’s play-calling has come with mostly good results for the Vikings on the defensive side of the ball. Minnesota’s defense has constantly been one of the NFL’s best units since he became the team’s head coach and their performance has a lot to do with his guidance.

In 2019, the Vikings’ defense took a bit of a step back. The unit wasn’t terrible by any means, but they didn’t perform at the elite level that they displayed out on the field during the previous few seasons.

With the defense experiencing some struggles in 2019, some have wondered if Zimmer should remain the primary play-caller for the unit moving forward. Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer are now the co-defensive coordinators for Minnesota and either coach could step in and probably do well at calling plays for the unit next season.

The Vikings head coach recently appeared on KFAN radio and he was asked about the chances of him potentially relinquishing his duties as the team’s defensive play-caller for 2020.

"“I don’t know that. I don’t know that yet. I’m going to give these guys an opportunity to see how they do it.They’ve been with me for a number of years now, so they know how I like the game called. It would take some things off of my plate, which would be good, but in the end, I’m going to do what I believe is best for the Minnesota Vikings.”"

Some of the criticism about Zimmer during his tenure with Minnesota has been his possible lack of focus on the non-defensive aspects of the team in games. Since he has to call the plays for the defense, things like managing the clock correctly or taking more chances on 4th-and-short situations might not be getting enough attention.

With it sounding like Zimmer has trust in his two co-defensive coordinators, maybe this will actually be the year he attempts to give equal attention to every aspect of his team by letting someone else call the plays for the defense.

No one should be holding their breath just yet though. The idea of Zimmer giving up play-calling has been suggested before and it hasn’t resulted in any sort of change.

So until he actually gives it up, expect the Vikings head coach to continue calling plays for the team’s defense during the 2020 season.