After being mentioned as a potential name to watch for the Cowboys defensive coordinator position, former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is now set to meet with the team in regard to the position, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Having not coached in the NFL over the past two seasons, Zimmer could return to a coordinator position for the first time in 11 years and could reunite with the Cowboys for the first time in 18 years. 
Zimmer, 67, has a storied history as one of the NFL’s better defensive minds. Starting in the college ranks, worked his way into his first coordinator job with Washington State after stints at Missouri and Weber State. After five years with the Cougars, Zimmer made the jump to the NFL, joining the Cowboys as a defensive assistant focusing on coaching nickel cornerbacks.
It took only a year for Zimmer to get promoted to defensive backs coach in Dallas, and after another five years, Zimmer became an NFL coordinator for the first time in his career, taking over play-calling duties for the Cowboys defense. After holding the position in Dallas for seven years, Zimmer decided to join Bobby Petrino in the same position during Petrino’s only NFL head coaching stint in Atlanta. Petrino famously left the Falcons after only 13 games to become the head coach at the University of Arkansas, drawing much ire from Zimmer who would be left without a job as he refused to follow to the college coaching ranks.
As a result, Zimmer took his next coordinator job with the Bengals. With five years of coaching consistently good defensive in Cincinnati under his belt, the league began to try out Zimmer’s name for head coaching interviews. After seven years with the Bengals, Zimmer would finally get his first head coaching opportunity with the Vikings.
Zimmer’s tenure in Minnesota would widely be deemed as successful, but a failure to stay consistently in contention and a to reach the Super Bowl ultimately led to his departure. Over his eight years as head coach, the Vikings went 72-56-1, never winning fewer than seven games. The Vikings twice won the NFC North under Zimmer and even reached the NFC Championship game in 2017. In 2021, Zimmer missed the playoffs for the second straight year after seeing the postseason in three of his first six seasons. Despite his ability to keep his team competitive, Zimmer was let go.
Since then, Zimmer has been away from the NFL, spending the 2022 season as an analyst/consultant under Deion Sanders at Jackson State. A return to the NFL has long been expected and would return one of the league’s better coordinators to the professional ranks.
Zimmer would have the luxury of taking over a top-five defense from the Commanders new head coach, Dan Quinn. Reuniting Zimmer with a Cowboys defense that now contains such stars as Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland seems like a no-brainer. His main competition seems to be Cowboys defensive backs coach Joe Whitt and perhaps former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera. Cowboys cornerbacks coach Al Harris and defensive line coach Aden Durde have been considered as possibilities for a promotion, as well.
A date has not yet been set for Zimmer’s meeting with the Cowboys, but an interview seems imminent. Seeing Zimmer return not only to the NFL but to the Cowboys, as well, could be just what Dallas needs to take that next step in the NFL.
They could do a lot worse!
Not too much worse. The Zimmer coaching tree was chopped down by NFL coordinators a long time ago.
Nobody gives a crap about a Zimmer coaching tree dude. Only thing that matters is he can make the correct play calls and he’s proved over and over again he’s very good at it. Maybe he never had the right personality to be a HC but he knows defense.
Between Dan Quinn and the rumored interest in Zimmer and Rivera, the Cowboys seem pretty determined to have experience in their defensive coordinator position (and former head coaching experience, at that). This may be reading too much into it, but this could indicate that management is beholden to the idea that the coordinator needs to be able to take over in just in case McCarthy is fired midyear. Could be wrong, but it’s also not necessarily a bad idea, regardless of McCarthy’s own individual risk of being let go.
I think a similar thing is happening in Philly. Kellen Moore interviewed for the HC job with the Eagles before they hired Sirianni. Maybe they were impressed.
If things go off the rails early again in Philly, Siri fired midseason and KM interim HC on a trial basis. Howie loves options if things go sideways.
Cowboys HCs do just enough to not get fired before the end of the year. Garret was at the helm for a DECADE
Jerry will never panic and fire a HC in season. He’s not going to show that things are out of control. He will wait til they go out first round and then do it. Panicky moves are not part of Mr. Jones image and his image is more important than winning.
Not sure what’s it going to take for Jerry to cut loose of McCarthy and Dak. I would even trade Parsons for a Herchel Walker type trade. Start over with new players. The current group has been together long enough.
Zimmer and McCarthy were the HC of the Vikings and the Packers, bitter rivals, for most of their time with those teams. Ironic that they’d end as part of one staff.