When is the Right Time to Fire Mike Zimmer?
Craig Williams
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It has come to that point in the season where the decision to fire Head Coach Mike Zimmer seems inevitable. Zimmer took over a putrid team in 2014 and turned the franchise around. He revamped the defense and turned it into a powerhouse. He fielded a competitive team every year since taking over and has an overall record of 69-54-1. He is one of the most successful coaches the Vikings have had in franchise history outside of Bud Grant.
His recent failures and lack of post-season success are starting to push towards a change.
Zimmer’s teams are 2-3 in the postseason with one miracle run to the NFC Championship Game a distant memory. The team posted a losing record last year (7-9) and is currently in worse shape this year. Zimmer has been unable to rebuild the defense after the prime of Xavier Rhodes, Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen, Andrew Sendejo, Anthony Barr (who is doing great work off the field), Eric Kendricks, and Linval Joseph. Some of those players do remain but are on the back end of their careers. The offense is better than ever under Zimmer, but the defensive decline has been too much to overcome.
When is The Right Time to Fire Your Coach?
That leads us to the question: when is it time to fire your head coach? There is a train of thought you should wait until after the season and Zimmer has earned the right to stay until then. That is an old school notion that is very fitting of Zimmer, but also a little antiquated.
Is it time now? The short answer is no. ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Vikings a 25.4% chance to make the playoffs. That is way too high of a chance to give up on just because of an ugly loss to the Detroit Lions. That would be a terrible message to send to the locker room and, quite frankly, one that may make a player want to look to move elsewhere.
Why fight for a franchise that gives up so easily?
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Would a Bad Loss Thursday Be It?
So, when does that time come? It might come as early as Thursday night. If the team comes out flat and looks disinterested on Thursday, the season could effectively be over. A Friday morning firing would give the interim coach time to gather the team and rally around him. The next game is Monday Night Football against Chicago. Assuming the interim coach would be long time defensive coach Andre Patterson, the team would not miss a beat. Patterson led the defense previously when Mike Zimmer had some eye issues a few years back.
What happens in a close loss on Thursday? It is still too early to give up. 9-8 is a record that still might get a Wild Card spot. A 4-0 finish is not out of the question, but you’re probably one loss away from making the move possible.
What happens if the team wins on Thursday? Those playoff odds only increase, and this decision gets pushed until much later in the season. As mentioned earlier, you can’t give up on the season until it really is over. At the earliest, you would have to wait until the team accumulates 9 losses. A win on Thursday pushes this decision until at least after Week 16 and likely to Week 17.
Playoffs? We’re Talking Playoffs?
There is also the crazy possibility that this team makes a 4-1 finish and gets that Wild Card spot. The firing might still come if the team doesn’t win at least one playoff game. So, if you were expecting a firing this week or even early next week, it isn’t likely.
Mike Zimmer still has some life left in him, making the decision to fire him unlikely. Let’s see what the team does against Pittsburgh.
