Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
It’s been over two years since Mike Zimmer was head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. After his firing, Zim went radio silent. While former players and confidants threw him under the bus and blamed him for everything that went wrong with the previous regime, Zim was nowhere to be found, or heard.
But that all changed earlier this month, when the 68-year-old Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator met with Mark Craig (Star Tribune) for a 1v1 face-to-face interview where Zimmer finally unloaded all the baggage he’s carried with him since the day he drove out of the TCO Performance Center parking lot all those months ago.
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Unsurprisingly, the entire interview is can’t miss. It’s worth a free trial at the Star Tribune, or at least, a text message to someone who already has a subscription. As Vikings fans know all too well, Zimmer has never been one to hold back. That was certainly the case in this interview.
New Mike Zimmer tell-all interview is can’t miss
He took shots at former GM Rick Spielman, who he hasn’t talked to since the day they were fired together. Kellen Mond, Kirk Cousins, Paul Allen, even the Wilfs caught some Mike Zimmer strays in this interview. But without a doubt, Defunct CB Kris Boyd took probably the most egregious and direct shot.
When asked by Craig about the multiple Vikings defensive players who publicly turned on him, in the days after he was fired, Zim admitted that the words of Eric Kendricks and longtime cornerback pupil ,Terrance Newman, cut him deep. Boyd, though? Not so much…
Some of the negative player reactions after his firing hardly registered for Zimmer. “Kris Boyd? He says something about me?” he says. “I’m like, ‘Dude, you had more special teams penalties than anyone I can remember.’ ”
Star Tribune
Is Mike Zimmer still bitter? Does a bear shit in the woods? Yes, Zim is 100% still bitter, and confirms as much throughout the interview. Not only does Zim avoid everything to do with his former team, including long-time GM Rick Spielman. Mike admitted he hasn’t watched a Minnesota Vikings game since he left.
Zimmer, Paul Allen no longer friends…
He’s also severed friendships with several people inside the organization, including play-by-play voice and one-time good friend, Paul Allen. The two used to own a racehorse together.
That was until last summer, when PA confirmed on his KFAN Radio show that Zim “snapped” on Kirk Cousins (during their infamous sideline shoving match, back in 2021). After that comment, Zimmer bought Allen out on the horse, and the two haven’t talked since.
“Hey, I pushed Kirk back pretty hard, too,” Zimmer says for the record. “But I just didn’t like what PA said. We’re supposed to be friends. Why you got to talk about me? Unfortunately, I hold grudges. That’s just how I am.”
Star Tribune
Related: T.J. Hockenson’s Return Timeline Clearing Up
Look, if you have a relationship with Mike Zimmer and you consider it important to you, then do not cross him. If you do, even if you think it isn’t a big deal, it’s very possible he will never speak with you again. Paul Allen and Rick Spielman have both found that out.
Zimmer walked out on Rick Spielman when Minnesota Vikings drafted Kellen Mond
Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Zimmer says in this interview that he wasn’t around for most of day two during the 2021 NFL Draft. Why not? Because, as previously reported, he did not like or want anything to do with QB Kellen Mond.
So, when Rick took the Texas A&M senior with the Vikings’ 66th overall pick that April, Mike got up out of his seat in the Vikings war room and left TCO Performance Center. Read below as he and Mark Craig recall the picks Spielman made without him that day…
“The first round, Rick tried to trade up for Justin Fields, who hasn’t done anything,” Zimmer says. With four third-round picks, Spielman selected, in order, quarterback Kellen Mond, linebacker Chazz Surratt, offensive lineman Wyatt Davis and defensive end Patrick Jones II. Zimmer was there for only the first pick.
“When he picked Mond, I walked out of the room,” Zimmer says. “I left the building. I didn’t even talk to him on the phone.” The two spoke the next morning. “Rick said, ‘You mad at me?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think you took four backups when we had guys there I thought were starters,’ ” Zimmer says. “From that time on, it just kind of got worse between us.”
Star Tribune
Zim then mocked Mond some more. He noted that Kellen only threw three career passes in the NFL, “and two were bad”. The best part about this Zimmer interview is that we didn’t really learn anything new.
All we got was confirmation on all of the reports that came out back then — that Mike and Rick hated each other, that Mike didn’t like Kirk, didn’t want Mond, etc, etc. He pretty much confirms every single one of those reports, then adds his very Zim-like context.
Related: Ed Ingram, Vikings Conjure Up New/Old Excuse for Training Camp Struggles
Again, what is transcribed here is only a small fraction of the gold in this Mark Craig + Mike Zimmer interview. He also talks about how difficult it was losing his son to alcoholism, which adds a large human side to the story too. Must-read, 10/10. I missed Mike Zimmer.
