UPDATE: According to Colorado Buffaloes beat writer Brian Howell, the report that Zimmer would become DC for Colorado is incorrect and Alabama’s Charles Kelly will be named DC.
ORIGINAL: The Minnesota Vikings fired head coach Mike Zimmer in January after eight seasons. He quickly got back into coaching by joining Deion Sander’s staff at Jackson State as a “football analyst.” Now, he’s taking on a bigger role by following Sanders west.
According to Larry Fitzgerald, Sr., Zimmer will be the new defensive coordinator of the Colorado Buffaloes, working under new head coach Deion Sanders.
Sanders and Zimmer have a lot of history. Zimmer was Sanders’s position coach while they were with the Dallas Cowboys back in the 90s and remained friends over the years.
Before taking over the Vikings, Zimmer was a defensive assistant for the Falcons, Bengals, and Cowboys, winning a Super Bowl as part of Dallas’s staff in 1996. In eight seasons as the Vikings head coach, he went 72-56-1, won three NFC North titles, and took the team to the playoffs three times.
This will be Zimmer’s first position coaching role in college football since he was the defensive coordinator at Washington State in 1993.
Sanders is certainly making waves since he took over the Buffs program. He courted criticism for the way he walked away from Jackson State, went viral with the way he talked to Colorado’s current players, and has seemingly brought a lot of coaching talent into the fold quickly.
The football world had some interesting thoughts on the news that Zimmer was taking on a big role in Boulder.
WOW this is a massive hire for Colorado. https://t.co/mEJ1WPp9qR
— Matt Prehm (@MattPrehm) December 7, 2022
Congratulations to Mike Zimmer on getting back into the coaching game.
Really looking forward to seeing what he and Coach Prime can build at Colorado. https://t.co/qC1evQWWB3
— The Daily Norseman ░V░I░K░ I░N░G░S░ ░I░N░ ░B░I░0░ (@DailyNorseman) December 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/GuyHaberman/status/1600608668344410112
https://twitter.com/wboor/status/1600594861991727104