5 essential traits the new Vikings head coach needs to have

Strong Clock Management Skills

Mike Zimmer was never especially strong at clock management. But in 2021, it was the worst it’s ever been. The Vikings set a record for the number of points allowed inside of two minutes of the half and the biggest reason for that was the poor foresight and management of time by the head coach.

Too many times, Minnesota would allow their opponent to score with about a minute remaining in the half. The reason for this was, one, the defense was awful, but, two, there was some poor clock management on Zimmer’s part.

He would throw the ball on first down, stopping the clock. He’d then run twice, and then punt, giving the opponent the ball back with about 30 seconds and a time out. The opposing team often scored in that situation and that was a big reason the Vikings were always in close games and lost some that they should’ve won.

Zimmer also called back-to-back timeouts in a game this season, and pooched kick to an explosive offense who had 40 seconds on the clock and a couple of time-outs. The lack of awareness for the clock was truly baffling at times for Zimmer, and even if the new man in charge is average in this regard, it’ll be a huge upgrade.