New Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer returns to Dallas with more than just his trademark intensity

FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s reputation is that of a stereotypical old-school, no-nonsense, football-obsessed coach. He is an image forged over 28 seasons as a coach at NFL that includes three different stints in DC – with the Cowboys (2000-2006), Atlanta Falcons (2007) and Cincinnati Bengals (2008-2013) – and eight seasons as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings (2014-2021).

“It’s not relaxing in the coach’s room. [Zimmer] holds coaches accountable. I’ve been with him long enough to know that whatever you tell him you’re going to do, he’s going to hold you to it and he won’t forget it,” said Cowboys assistant defensive line coach Greg Ellis, who played nine seasons under Zimmer in Dallas from 1998 to 2006 – a period in which Zimmer was an assistant and the team’s DC… I really couldn’t think of a better coach to be honest with you.”

He’s no longer yelling at Ellis, the eighth overall pick by Dallas in 1998. NFL Draftsomething that leaves the former player turned coach relieved.

“I have enormous respect for him when I played with him because he is a great teacher of the game,” Ellis said. “He taught me a lot about the game. Being on the other side with him is something different for me.”

Some members of the Cowboys’ defensive staff who are working alongside Zimmer for the first time in 2024 and have yet to experience his trademark intensity know it’s only a matter of time.

“I haven’t caught the wrath yet, but I know it’s coming,” Cowboys defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina said. “I’m OK with that. It makes you a better coach and a better player when you feel the wrath. He just wants to win like the rest of us. That’s the passion that drives him.”

“You feel that (intensity) when you first meet him,” Dallas assistant coach/defensive backs coach Al Harris said. “I think people misunderstand [him] because he’s a good guy. If you’re really sensitive, he can probably get under your skin, but if you know it’s coming from a good place, hey man, he’s just ball coaching.”

Zimmer recognized his own reputation at his introductory press conference in February, while also stating that his fire and brimstone hasn’t stopped him from building meaningful relationships with other staff and players.

“There’s a reputation that I’m an idiot or something like that,” Zimmer said. “That’s what I think. But you know, since it was announced that I was going to be here, I’ve heard from a lot of players who played for me. Players here, not just the defensive backs, the linebackers and the defensive linemen have messaged me and said how much they were happy for me, I guess if I was an idiot I wouldn’t have heard from these guys.

One of the former players Zimmer has had a long-standing relationship with over the decades is Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. He served as Sanders’ defensive backs coach during his five “Prime Time” seasons with the Cowboys from 1995 to 1999, a period of Sanders’ career in which he earned four Pro Bowl selections and three First-Team All-Pro nods. . Sanders’ talent and swagger are a complete juxtaposition of who Zimmer is, but Sanders hired him to be a defensive analyst/consultant during both of his stops as college football head coach of Jackson State (2022) and Colorado (2023) after Zimmer’s (2014-2021) eight-year tenure as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings came to an end.

“Mike Zimmer was exactly the coach we needed when we hired him in Minnesota,” said Rick Spielman, former Vikings general manager and current CBS Sports HQ NFL analyst. “There is no doubt about his resistance, his ability to instill discipline and responsibility, which I consider a great strength of his, and he still has the ability to know when to withdraw that resistance or advantage. how close he and Deion Sanders have become, which are probably polar opposites. I think the players had a lot of respect for him because, as demanding as he was as a coach, he also managed to do it with a tough, loving approach. to improve by being coached by him.”

Respect for Zimmer played a determining role in the Cowboys’ ability to persuade former Pro Bowl linebacker Eric Kendricks, a nine-year Zimmer and Spielman veteran selected 45th overall (second round) in the 2015 NFL Draft, to reject the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers in free agency to come to Dallas.

“I think I would have taken on a more reserve role [in San Francisco], where I feel like I still have a lot to give and I wanted to be here and be the middle linebacker,” Kendricks said. “I wanted to share my experience with the team, share my leadership skills and lead this group. I feel like I still have a lot to give and I want to be here and with Mike [Zimmer]. … I’ve been in this system for seven years. It’s something I’m very familiar with. We’ll do different things here and there, especially with the staff we have here.”

Zimmer praised the early impact Kendricks had during Dallas’ offseason program. As a Cowboy, the 32-year-old will be tasked with leading the entire unit as a central figure in Dallas’ front seven.

“(During) today’s visit, I gave them a lot of hard things, and he’s [Kendricks] fast,” Zimmer said in May. “He’s said it before, done it before. We were talking about this today, like if he wasn’t here it would be very different, I’m so happy to have him. He was an All-Pro player for me a while ago. Obviously a very good player, so hopefully he can continue that and help the guys around him.”

Zimmer’s softer side

Kendricks also has experience with Zimmer’s more personal and caring side, thanks to the equity the two have in their football relationship. One specific conversation between the two more than six years ago stands out in the linebacker’s mind.

“The way he plays, especially with young guys, he plays with a little bit of distance. He trains you hard, he wants to see you succeed. and he wants you to earn his trust,” Kendricks said. “I remember when I signed that new contract [a five-year, $50 million extension in 2018], we didn’t communicate much, but he took me aside and told me how I deserved it. As a young man, I think I was going into fourth year, it meant a lot at the time. I was making this transition from having a little bit of experience to now being kind of a veterinarian.”

Spielman also experienced the analytical Zimmer, the one who sat back and listened before making a nuanced argument about why his defense needed a specific player or two. The first offseason Zimmer spent with his general manager as head coach of the Vikings in 2014 was one in which Minnesota owned the ninth overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Zimmer coveted UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr with that pick, despite him not fitting into the defensive scheme previously run by Zimmer’s predecessor, Leslie Frazier. He convinced Spielman that Barr was the right choice, and the end result was the linebacker earning four Pro Bowl selections under his tutelage.

“Our first draft [together] we drafted Anthony Barr, who may not have fit into the scheme that we had run in the past, but coach Zimmer got up there and talked about ‘that’s Barr’s strength. That’s what I know is how I can utilize him in the scheme, and that’s why he’s going to be a very good player in this scheme because we’re going to do XY and Z with him.’ … That was an example of a very clear vision of how he was going to use Anthony Barr, how he was going to use him to try to create mismatches and protections where he would end up with a running back trying to block him instead of an offensive lineman. So that’s why I’m extremely excited to see what he comes up with and how he uses Micah Parsons there in Dallas.”

The Zimmer-Parsons partnership

Parsons, a three-time All-Pro edge rusher and one of only five players to have at least 40 sacks (40.5) in his first three NFL seasons since the sack became an official statistic in 1982, is excited to meet his new DC in training camp and during the following season missing most of Cowboys’ offseason program.

“Honestly, me and Zim probably said a total of 20 words together,” Parsons said at Dallas’ mandatory minicamp on June 4. “He is a very quiet person. ‘ Well, I like it that way. I can’t wait to sit down with him because that would be so cool. Obviously, the old school mentality, the old school mentality. I’ve never had a Micah before, so it’ll be fun. I think it will be unique. There are many similarities in how he uses me. [former Cowboys DC] Dan [Quinn] used me in your system. He has more tweaks and twists in how he will set things up. There are some things I need to get used to too. Obviously, I also need to get used to some things. You know it’s going to be a compromising relationship.”

Parsons’ career defensive snap alignment

*Data according to Pro Football Focus

“He is [Parsons] such a dynamic player that I said the other day: ‘Attacks will always know where he is.’ They will become protections for him, have the help chip in their back, no matter what it is,” said Zimmer. “In a lot of the games he played last year that I watched, the offenses had a good scheme where they got two tight ends for him and all that stuff. So obviously we’re going to move it around, do different things with it, but we’re going to use it in some ways where we’re going to get the protection turned the way we want it to be and able to win on the other side. Sometimes we will try to overload a protection where he can get one-on-one.”

There’s no doubt Zimmer will spend the five-to-six week gap between minicamp and Cowboys training camp daydreaming about how to best utilize Parsons and the rest of his personnel on Dallas’ defense.

“When I think about Zim, I don’t think about anything other than being here on the grass and playing football. This guy is a true football guy, through and through,” Kendricks said. “He watches movies on his days off. He really enjoys it. It’s good to be back with him.”