I think his vision, if you will, was his commitment to bringing in quality assistants. Having been one himself, I think he understood the importance of surrounding himself with great people. There's wisdom in that ... but at the same time, he has to be accountable.Mothman wrote: No, he's not and he shouldn't be fired. That wasn't the point of this thread so I hope that's not what people are taking away from it.
I don't know what the future holds for Zimmer. I posted this article again because I think it's worth looking back at the anecdote I quoted and it's worth considering the attitude Zimmer apparently displayed in interviews, an attitude that prevented him from getting a number of head coaching jobs over the years. I think it provides insight into what's gone wrong thus far under Zimmer. When asked how he would run a team and build his staff, he kept saying "he'd figure it out" and it looks to me like that's the level of vision he brought to Minnesota. He came in as a defensive coordinator and he's basically coached the team like one, developing and coaching the defense with confidence and showing little, if any, real vision for the offense beyond riding on Adrian Peterson's back. That lack of vision has been costly.
Unfortunately, in his effort to hire quality assistants, he brought on Norv Turner, whose reputation seems to have been a few years past its expiration date. Their first move was to draft Teddy ... not bashing Teddy, but he wasn't the right guy to run Norv's system. Blame Zimmer if you wish, but I put that more on Spielman and Turner. Zimmer trusted those guys to make the right decision, and for Norv's brand of football, it was a miss. Derek Carr would have been a much better pick. Not only that, he was available (which to this day still makes my stomach ache).
As much as it pains me to say it, I have to agree. In the modern NFL, you can't win with only a grind-it-out rushing attack and a strong defense. There comes a time when your team needs to be able to score in a hurry, and this team just isn't capable. That being said, I DO like the way Bradford throws the deep ball on those rare occasions when he has the time. He's extremely accurate down the field, so if we can ever come up with a competent O-line, there's hope. Big if, I know.Mothman wrote:It's time for him to "figure it out" or eventually, he really will need to be replaced.
But back to Zimmer, at some point he's got to realize that scoring is just as important as keeping the other team from scoring. Even though he's a defensive guy, he is the head coach ... so if he doesn't put some personal emphasis on the offense, it will not get fixed. My opinion is that he should stop calling defensive plays. Maybe that would free him up to pay more attention to the offense and make them more accountable.
Oops. I swapped 2011 and 2013 (although 5-10-1 is nothing to write home about).Mothman wrote:As an aside, you mixed up a couple of seasons above. Mike Zimmer didn't inherit a 3-13 team.