If the Minnesota Vikings part ways with Mike Zimmer in 2022, could he remain in the NFC North as the next head coach of the Chicago Bears?
When the Minnesota Vikings face the Chicago Bears on Monday night inside Soldier Field, it will not only be a matchup between two NFC North rivals, but it could be one of the final times we see Mike Zimmer and Matt Nagy battling as head coaches.
Nagy seems as good as gone and it feels like the team’s ownership is just being nice at this point by not firing him until the end of the current season.
As for Zimmer, he still has the Vikings in the hunt for a playoff spot with four games left to go. If Minnesota doesn’t get into the postseason this year, however, Zimmer’s time in the Twin Cities could be over.
If the Minnesota Vikings fire Mike Zimmer, could he join the Chicago Bears?
So let’s say both Zimmer and Nagy get fired by their teams after the conclusion of the 2021 season. It wouldn’t be surprising if Zimmer decided to just retire from coaching if the Vikings let him go in a few weeks since he’s currently 65-years-old.
But it also wouldn’t come as a surprise if he wanted to remain a head coach and go to a place like Chicago where he could constantly attempt to make Minnesota feel like they made a mistake by firing him.
It’s unclear at this point what the Bears will be looking for in their next head coach, but Zimmer to Chicago isn’t as crazy as some might think.
The current Vikings head coach grew up less than an hour away from Chicago in Lockport, Illinois and he spent his time in college at Illinois State University. So Zimmer already has the “one of us” trait that is an attractive quality to some when choosing a head coach for their team.
He’s also very familiar with the NFC North, as he’s been a head coach in the division since 2014. Zimmer’s 7-7-1 record against the Green Bay Packers should be intriguing to Chicago fans too as the Bears are just 1-7 when facing the Packers since Nagy was hired in 2018.
In addition to all of this, Zimmer has a defensive background. The majority of Chicago’s best seasons during the Super Bowl era have come when they’ve had a great defense and a solid rushing attack, which is basically the approach that Zimmer believes will lead a team to success.
Despite his last few seasons in Minnesota not going as well as he would’ve liked, all Zimmer might need to get back on track is a change of scenery. Add in a sprinkle of motivation to prove the Vikings wrong if they fire him and he could possibly be the guy who gets the Bears back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2006.