Mike Zimmer will be coaching the Minnesota Vikings a little longer now.
Everyone had been wondering if it was ever going to happen and then on Wednesday, the Minnesota Vikings and head coach Mike Zimmer reportedly agreed to a new multi-year contract extension.
Zimmer is currently preparing for his seventh season with the Vikings and the franchise has experienced more success under his leadership than any of the previous three head coaches who came before him.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on just about everything in the world, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if it also had something to do with Minnesota not giving Zimmer his extension a few months ago. Honestly, the Vikings had every right to question if there would even be a season this year as recent as a week ago.
But now that Zimmer has been extended (rumored length is three years), he can get back to preparing for what will likely be his strangest season of coaching ever. Although, this year might be easy for him compared to some of the things he’s already experienced during his coaching tenure with Minnesota.
News of Zimmer’s extension finally broke on Wednesday and there are plenty of reasons to help explain why this was the correct decision for the Vikings to make.
Zimmer deserves it
Sure, Mike Zimmer hasn’t been able to help Minnesota reach their ultimate goal yet. But he’s at least given the Vikings multiple opportunities in the postseason to bring home the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl win.
During the six years since he was hired as the team’s head coach in 2014, Minnesota has finished a season with a losing record just once. Zimmer has also led the Vikings to a pair of playoff victories during his tenure and he might have helped them win even more if a certain kicker was able to nail a 27-yard chip shot in 2015.
Something that he probably deserves more credit for is the culture he’s built in the Minnesota locker room since he became the head coach. Current members of the Vikings roster have uttered multiple times that they would, “run through a wall,” for Zimmer and there aren’t a lot of coaches around the NFL today who get that same respect from their players.
To really understand how good of a head coach he’s proven to be since arriving to Minnesota, think about how many teams around the league would fight to hire him if his contract actually didn’t get extended and he were free to coach anywhere he desired in 2021. Most would agree that he would have multiple enticing offers and some of them would probably even come from teams who don’t even have a head coaching opening.
For anyone who believes that the Vikings have even a sliver of a chance to win a Super Bowl this season, that’s due to their current head coach and what he’s turned the franchise into since he got the job.
Minnesota can plan for the future
First, let’s just state that the Vikings can still make a head coaching change in 2021 even though they are reportedly giving Mike Zimmer a multi-year extension. However, things would likely have to spin out of control for Minnesota this season in order for that to happen.
So assuming that the Vikings continue to remain competitive in 2020, Zimmer can now rest a little easier (whenever he decides to take his daily 45 minutes of sleep) knowing that he has the support of the front office and ownership to take the time he needs to help the team reach their goals.
Zimmer can now sit down with his coaching staff and develop a plan to get Minnesota to a Super Bowl within the next two or three years. He no longer has to put all of his eggs in one basket and potentially take some uncharacteristic risks this season in order to try and prove that he deserves a new contract from the Vikings.
Success in the NFL is rarely instant. Typically, it’s more of a slow process and one that takes years to develop. Guys who are viewed by most as successful like Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher, and Andy Reid all failed to lead their team to a Super Bowl victory before their seventh season as a head coach in the NFL.
So with this extension, Zimmer can now continue to work at helping bring a championship to the Twin Cities and maybe even end up having a coaching career like that Belichick guy who’s won a couple rings.
Eliminates a distraction this season
If there is one thing Mike Zimmer loves when it comes to being the head coach of the Vikings, it’s the distractions he’s had to constantly deal with. Well, okay maybe he doesn’t exactly love them.
But with his contract extension now taken care of, it’s one less thing some of his favorite Minnesota beat reporters won’t badger him about all season long.
For the most part, Zimmer has proven to do well at keeping the Vikings focused on the football field regardless of whatever commotion is going on outside of the locker room. And even during times where issues have been unavoidable, the Minnesota head coach has normally addressed them as quick as possible and prevented them from growing into a distraction that could derail the team’s season.
So now, at least Zimmer doesn’t have to worry about being asked any questions regarding his future with the Vikings every time he meets with the media during the upcoming season. Someone will likely ask him what his feelings are after getting an extension during one of his first few pressers this summer and that will be it.
Zimmer can now shift the majority of his focus to his team and how they are going to perform on the actual football field. That is, at least until the next uncontrollable distraction occurs to this snake-bitten franchise that he’s currently in charge of.