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A short while ago, the news most Vikings fans have been wanting hear has been announced:
Vikings are hiring Mike Zimmer as their HC, per league source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 15, 2014
Zimmer, who has been in the NFL for over a decade, has been the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals since 2008, and before that he was the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys.
His time with the Falcons was for just one season, under Bobby Petrino, which has been chronicled here. Some fantastic quotes, but that's only part of the Zimmer story.
Zimmer's wife died, suddenly and unexpectedly of natural causes, back in 2010, and to understand a little bit about Mike Zimmer, you must read this account of the 'other side' of Zimmer here.
It paints a picture of toughness blended with compassion, a guy that demands a lot, yet rewards high performance. He seems like a great hire, and oh yeah, he's been a top coordinator in the NFL for over a decade. His defenses in Cincinnati have been consistently in or near the top ten every year, In 2013, the lowest...lowest...category the Bengals defense was ranked in 2013 was pass defense, and that was 11th.
Zimmer assumes his first head coaching job after several interviews with other teams not only this year, but in seasons past. As of right now, we have no indication of who will be part of Zimmer's staff. As we find out, we'll update as necessary.
But for now, the Mike Zimmer era has begun in Minnesota. Long live the Mike Zimmer era. SKOL!