After some confusion over whether it was a done deal, the Dallas Cowboys officially introduced Mike Zimmer as their new defensive coordinator on Wednesday, bringing back one of the elements from their last Super Bowl title run.
After spending the last two years as an analyst on Deion Sanders’ staff at Jackson State and Colorado, Zimmer, who began his NFL coaching career with the Cowboys during their 1990s Super Bowl runs as a defensive assistant, knew Dallas was where he wanted to be.
“I knew right away it was the right opportunity,” he told the media. “There was another club talking to me, [but] this is where I wanted to come. … There was never a question of whether or not I wanted to be here.”
Zimmer eventually became Dallas’ defensive coordinator but left after Bill Parcells’ retirement in January 2007 — making stops in Atlanta and Cincinnati before being hired as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, where he spent seven years and went head-to-head against current Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy 10 times.
According to McCarthy, Zimmer’s head coaching background was critical to the team’s hunt for its next coordinator.
“We kind of had two buckets that we looked at as far as individuals that were tied to the existing defense and then looking at former head coaches, which is something that, if you look at my history, is a preference that I feel is very important,” McCarthy told the media. “Having had the time to sit down and talk with Mike [Zimmer] … I think it’s an incredible fit for us.”
On Monday, reports surfaced that Zimmer had not been hired to the role, as ESPN analyst and former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan revealed that Dallas was still reaching out to him about the job over Zimmer. With the confusion behind them, Zimmer can now focus on marrying his scheme and requirements with what the Cowboys already do well.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here,” Zimmer explained. “They’ve been pretty good. I know there’s been some situations where things haven’t happened, but that happens in coaching and happens a lot. We’re going to look at the players, try to figure out the best way to use them, [and] put the scheme together.”
“We want to take the good things that they’ve done and maybe add a few more other things that we’ve done good in the past and try to make this manageable to where we’re disciplined, well-coached, [and] play together as a team,” he added.
One of the things the Cowboys have done well over the past three years is creating turnovers, but the run defense has been a weakness. Zimmer believes communication and a better understanding of his personnel would go a long way toward helping the two components work together.
“We’ve got to get the communication down first and the techniques down second,” he remarked. “We’ve got to make sure we figure out where the personnel is and put them in the right place and get them coached up and ready to go.”
