Mike Zimmer

Super Bowl Champion Coach

Mike Zimmer is a former NFL head coach with the Minnesota Vikings (2014-2021), taking the team to the playoffs three times, including the 2017 NFC Championship game.

He also served as the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals prior to becoming a head coach. He won Super Bowl XXX with the Cowboys as a defensive backs coach and was voted NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009 with Cincinnati.

Zimmer began coaching as a defensive assistant at the University of Missouri from 1979-1980. He then worked at Weber State and Washington State before joining the Cowboys as assistant coach of the nickel defense in 1994. Zimmer was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2000 and later was defensive coordinator for the Falcons and Bengals.

With the Vikings, Zimmer had a .562 winning percentage as head coach. He led the Vikings to one of the greatest seasons in franchise history in 2017 when they finished 13-3. In the playoffs that season the Vikings beat the Saints in the divisional round thanks to the “Minneapolis Miracle,” a last-second touchdown pass from Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs. Zimmer had a 2-3 playoff record with the Vikings.

A multi-sport athlete in high school, Zimmer earned all-conference honors in football, baseball and wrestling at Lockport Township High School in Illinois. He enrolled at Illinois State University, but injuries plagued his playing career.

One of Zimmer’s sons, Adam, was an assistant linebackers coach with the New Orleans Saints during their Super Bowl-winning season in 2009.

Zimmer currently owns a hunting lodge in Northern Kentucky.