Zimmer Answers Questions About Coordinators, Kirk, and Mentality

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer fielded questions from reporters Thursday. Zimmer made it clear that the team was going to evaluate the entire team “including myself,” said Zimmer. The question on everybody’s mind is undoubtedly what the Vikings will do about the Offensive coordinator position. Zimmer said he felt Kevin Stefanski did a good job as interim coordinator for the final three weeks of the season. He also made it clear that a decision on Stefanski’s future with the team would come before his contract runs out on Tuesday, that would be the day that the Vikings lose exclusive rights to talk to Stefanski.

When asked what he is looking for in an offensive coordinator Zimmer said, “the biggest thing is we gotta score more points.” The Vikings ranked 19th in points per game this season, and that is with games where they scored 29, 31, and 41. These outliers raise the season average, and make it obvious that the Vikings don’t just need to score more points, they need to score points more consistently. Zimmer also said that the offense needs to be better on third downs, run play action (better), and focus on improving protection against individual players, possibly alluding to how the offensive line were manhandled by individual players like Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks.

There were plenty of questions for Zimmer about former offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, and his subsequent firing. “I still think Flip is a good football coach, I just didn’t like the direction it was going at the time,” said Zimmer, he would go on to say that he was trying to pull the team out of the tail spin they were in when he fired DeFilippo.

Zimmer talked about how he handled the interview process for offensive coordinators last year, “I just don’t think I asked enough questions as far as what we were trying to get done.” When asked if a prior relationship with a candidate would sway his judgement, Zimmer said, “no not really.” Zimmer also stated that he knew where that question was going, but told the reporter who asked it, “you’re fishing in the wrong pond.”

Reporters also asked Zimmer about the play of Kirk Cousins, but refused to comment on what he felt Cousins did poorly saying, “I’d rather talk to him about those things.” However Zimmer did talk about how he felt Cousins was a great teammate, studied hard, and worked hard at everything he was trying to get done. “I do think there’s some areas that he [Cousins] could get better at,” said Zimmer, “and I’m sure he’d tell you the same thing. When asked about whether Kirk’s play was what he expected, Zimmer said, “I think it’s more about the combination of the team then as opposed to one particular player.” “It’s about the football team, one guy doesn’t win games around here, one guy doesn’t lose games, Zimmer said. Zimmer also stated, “I have a lot of confidence in Kirk.”

When asked about building the offensive line up, Zimmer said “drafting and building any position is hard.” Zimmer also said that there were plenty of offensive lineman out there, and that he really wants to see the growth and mindset from the defensive side of the ball move over to the offensive line. “I think a premium need to be put everywhere,” Zimmer said when talking about whether the offensive line would be a focus this offseason. It was unclear to me whether this was Zimmer not wanting to tip his hand too much, or if he truly believes that an attitude adjustment is what the offensive line needs most.

Zimmer also spoke briefly about how the passing of Tony Sparano affected the offense this season. Zimmer said that Sparano was a force in the offense and within the coaching staff, both within games and during preparation. Zimmer also called Sparano, “innovative in the running game,” and stated that Tony’s death sent the season into a downward spiral from the beginning. “I know the offensive line room was devastated when that happened, because they really loved the guy,” said Zimmer.

Finally, Zimmer talked about the team’s mentality this season. “This football team, for the four years that I’ve been here, had that nasty, we’re gonna win regardless… mentality, and I don’t know that we had it this year,” Zimmer said. Zimmer said this mentality change may have come from the fact that this year the team was playing catch up, instead of being ahead and being able to finish the game, but it could have been a number of other things as well. “We’re gonna get that mentality back,” said Zimmer, “I can promise you that.” When asked how he would do that, all Zimmer would say is “I’ve got a plan,” and gave a short smile.

I certainly hope that Zimmer does have a plan, and we won’t be sitting in the same position next year.

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