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In his press conference this past Friday where he was introduced as the ninth head coach in the history of the Minnesota Vikings, Mike Zimmer spoke of the lessons he learned from legendary head coach and personnel man Bill Parcells.
Parcells, the only man in NFL history to take four different teams to the NFL playoffs (New York Giants, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys), was the head coach in Dallas from 2003 to 2006, with Zimmer serving as his defensive coordinator. He apparently made it a habit to go to Zimmer's office and tell him to write down the sorts of things that he needed to remember for when he became a head coach.
So, what were those things? Chris Mortensen of ESPN revealed them all this morning through the magic of the Twitters.
1 of 3 things Bill Parcells told Mike Zimmer to write down on the day he was hired by Vikings: 1. Your best friends will disappoint you
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 19, 2014
No. 2 was "4 or 5 things happen every day in pro football you wish wouldn't happen & if you can't handle those, you need to get another job
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 19, 2014
Parcells' 3rd instruction to Zimmer about being a head coach: "It's lonely."
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 19, 2014
Nothing about Fight Club or anything like that. Sad, really.
But, in all seriousness, it was pretty good of Parcells to serve as a mentor to someone like Zimmer. I guess that, considering the guy was on his fourth NFL head coaching job by that time and really didn't have to give a damn about his legacy, he could do that for someone that he felt had the ability to rise to such a position.
Will Zimmer be able to give the Vikings the sort of turn-around that Parcells was known for whenever he took over a team? Frankly, I wouldn't bet against it.