I understand that Zimmer is old school and can ruffle feathers, but I believe he is one of the better head coaches in the league. He finally has an offense that he likes and an OC that he trusts. It's an ideal situation. I think he should get a three year extension and if no improvement is shown in the next few years, the you tear this team back to the studs and hire a new coach and QB.
I agree. I have him in the top 10 coaches and it’s a good situation with the OC (finally) but I think that’s why Zimmer probably wants to go longer than just a year or two on the extension.
definitely believe Stefanski was the better long-term fit, but obviously picking him over a reasonably successful incumbent would have looked horrible.
Yeah it would have been very hard to make that change after the Saints playoff win. Not unprecedented though! The Titans fires Mularkey and hired Vrabel after they won a playoff game in dramatic fashion. But Zimmer is very popular with fans and showed his defensive prowess would be hard to replace
Easy now, Matthew. Mularkey was a retread with a career record of 36-53. That's really not the same thing.
I'm not sure anyone can win in Cleveland. I hope it works out for Stefanski, but there is tremendous risk in banking on a hot new OC. Would anyone trade Zim for Nagy, Zac Taylor, Gase or Kliff?
Firing DeFilippo should be a plus to the Wilfs, not a minus. Zim's had two OCs get hired as HCs, which isn't bad for a guy who isn't Reid or McVay. The DeFilippo hire was a mistake, Zim recognized and fixed it--rather well, in fact--and DeFilippo hasn't gone on to greatness elsewhere.
There is so much benefit in stability. Look at the teams that have won the most during the past decade--and unlike the Vikings, they've had quality QB stability. If one wants to argue this is circular and those coaches stay because they win, well, so does Zim. Changing coaches not only blows up the roster, it usually asks those players who do stay to play a different role. With a 53 man roster, the idea of NBA style tanking/rebuilding doesn't work.
The Cook situation is nothing like this one. There are heaps of data all saying the same thing: don't give large 2nd Ks to RBs, ever, and especially in this offence. There are no similar data for older coaches, whether acerbic (BB) or convivial (Carroll).
The strongest argument in favour of letting Zim go is that he had 4 1sts and a 2nd in his secondary last year and the corners couldn't play. I guess it's possible that Zim has somehow lost the ability to coach DS, but that seems pretty unlikely. It will be disappointing if there isn't an extension by week 1, because this decision needed to be made back in January. Unless the season ends with a SB, there is no positive outcome from having Zim play out his deal.
You can’t give Zimmer credit for firing DeFilippo when he made the hire and later admitted that he didn’t ask the right questions during the hiring process. It was also the second time there was a rift between him and an OC. And the way he aired dirty laundry with DeFilippo did not help the situation.
It *is* like Dalvin Cook because you can understand why each side feels the way that they do. You get why the Wilfs would want to slow play this a little and you also get why Zimmer would be very frustrated by it. My analogy has nothing to do with Zim’s age or coach value
I understand that Zimmer is old school and can ruffle feathers, but I believe he is one of the better head coaches in the league. He finally has an offense that he likes and an OC that he trusts. It's an ideal situation. I think he should get a three year extension and if no improvement is shown in the next few years, the you tear this team back to the studs and hire a new coach and QB.
I agree. I have him in the top 10 coaches and it’s a good situation with the OC (finally) but I think that’s why Zimmer probably wants to go longer than just a year or two on the extension.
definitely believe Stefanski was the better long-term fit, but obviously picking him over a reasonably successful incumbent would have looked horrible.
Yeah it would have been very hard to make that change after the Saints playoff win. Not unprecedented though! The Titans fires Mularkey and hired Vrabel after they won a playoff game in dramatic fashion. But Zimmer is very popular with fans and showed his defensive prowess would be hard to replace
Easy now, Matthew. Mularkey was a retread with a career record of 36-53. That's really not the same thing.
I'm not sure anyone can win in Cleveland. I hope it works out for Stefanski, but there is tremendous risk in banking on a hot new OC. Would anyone trade Zim for Nagy, Zac Taylor, Gase or Kliff?
Firing DeFilippo should be a plus to the Wilfs, not a minus. Zim's had two OCs get hired as HCs, which isn't bad for a guy who isn't Reid or McVay. The DeFilippo hire was a mistake, Zim recognized and fixed it--rather well, in fact--and DeFilippo hasn't gone on to greatness elsewhere.
There is so much benefit in stability. Look at the teams that have won the most during the past decade--and unlike the Vikings, they've had quality QB stability. If one wants to argue this is circular and those coaches stay because they win, well, so does Zim. Changing coaches not only blows up the roster, it usually asks those players who do stay to play a different role. With a 53 man roster, the idea of NBA style tanking/rebuilding doesn't work.
The Cook situation is nothing like this one. There are heaps of data all saying the same thing: don't give large 2nd Ks to RBs, ever, and especially in this offence. There are no similar data for older coaches, whether acerbic (BB) or convivial (Carroll).
The strongest argument in favour of letting Zim go is that he had 4 1sts and a 2nd in his secondary last year and the corners couldn't play. I guess it's possible that Zim has somehow lost the ability to coach DS, but that seems pretty unlikely. It will be disappointing if there isn't an extension by week 1, because this decision needed to be made back in January. Unless the season ends with a SB, there is no positive outcome from having Zim play out his deal.
You can’t give Zimmer credit for firing DeFilippo when he made the hire and later admitted that he didn’t ask the right questions during the hiring process. It was also the second time there was a rift between him and an OC. And the way he aired dirty laundry with DeFilippo did not help the situation.
It *is* like Dalvin Cook because you can understand why each side feels the way that they do. You get why the Wilfs would want to slow play this a little and you also get why Zimmer would be very frustrated by it. My analogy has nothing to do with Zim’s age or coach value
Sure, he hired the wrong guy, but then he realized it and moved on. A lot of times that doesn't happen, or doesn't happen as early as it should.
We'll have to disagree on this one. I know Cook wants to be paid, but there is no rational basis for doing so.
The problem with slow-playing it is (absent an extension before week 1) the outcomes are:
1. The Vikings win the SB, no-one cares about anything else.
2. The team does well enough to keep Zim, but either he refuses and walks for nothing or the Wilfs have to overpay to keep him.
3. The team craters, sweeping changes and all of the risk and inefficiency that entails.
The odds are, what, 55% option 2, 43% option 3 and 2% option 1. One doesn't always have the luxury of waiting without incurring a lot more harm.
They gave Kirk Cousins a extension Mike Zimmer deserved one before Cousins