Report: Another home run for Prime, hires former NFL head coach as DC
Dec 7, 2022, 1:23 PM | Updated: 4:43 pm
UPDATE: Mike Zimmer is not Colorado’s new DC but could be part of the Buffaloes staff. Charles Kelly is getting the gig.
When Mike Zimmer was fired by the Minnesota Vikings at the start of 2022, nobody could’ve guessed this would be his next gig.
The eight-year head coach of the Twin Cities’ NFL team is joining Deion Sanders’ staff in Boulder, becoming the next defensive coordinator of the Colorado Buffaloes. The news comes from Larry Fitzgerald Sr., a longtime member of the Minnesota media and the father to the famed former NFL player.
Mike Zimmer Vikings ex Head Coach will be Deion Sanders defensive coordinator at Colorado after going 12-0 at Jackson State-He gets 💰💰Pay raise and fresh clean drinking water 💦.
— Larry Fitzgerald Sr. (@FitzBeatSr) December 7, 2022
Zimmer was Sanders’ defensive backs coach with the Cowboys when Dallas won Super Bowl XXX. Zimmer went on to lead the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game in 2017. His near-decade in Minnesota saw the Vikings go 74–59–1, including the playoffs.
Zimmer has been a defensive coordinator for three NFL teams, including the Cowboys. He also was in that role in the Pac-10 at one point, coaching for Washington State and has worked around the region, being a defensive assistant at the Utah-based Webber State.
Zimmer has had a tough few years, losing his wife and father in previous years and his son unexpectedly earlier this year. The former NFL Assistant Coach of the Year, was a multi-sport athlete in high school before attending Illinois State University.
Zimmer is one of several former head coaches to join the staff in Boulder. Tim Brewster, who led the Minnesota Golden Gophers just across the street is now CU’s tight ends coach, a role he had with the Denver Broncos a decade ago. The Buffs also got Sean Lewis to walk away from his current head coaching gig with Kent State to become the offensive coordinator.
Zimmer will be working just up the road from his old Vikings friend Denver Broncos general manager George Paton.
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