Minnesota Vikings: 3 Candidates for vacant defensive coordinator position
1. Adam Zimmer
The final option to fill the now-vacant defensive coordinator position within the Minnesota Vikings organization following the departure of long-time defensive coordinator George Edwards includes current Vikings coach Adam Zimmer. Zimmer is the son of Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer and has served as the linebackers coach with the Vikings for the last six seasons since his dad took over at the helm of the Vikings.
The 36-year old coach has spent time in the NFL since 2006, serving as the assistant linebackers coach for the New Orleans Saints from 2006-09, before taking over the same position with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2010-12. After that, Zimmer was the assistant defensive backs coach with the Cincinnati Bengals on his dad’s defensive staff, until he made the move to Minnesota along with his dad in 2014.
According to Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio, Zimmer is reportedly one of the top candidates and could be viewed as a favorite to land the defensive coordinator position with the Vikings. Per Marvez, he has been told by multiple sources that the assistant coach could be elevated to the spot within his dad’s staff prior to the start of the 2020 campaign.
Multiple sources tell @SiriusXMNFL that Adam Zimmer is a candidate to become next @Vikings defensive coordinator working under his dad Mike. Adam has served as MIN LBs coach the past 6 seasons & helped develop two good ones in Eric Kendricks & Anthony Barr
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) January 13, 2020
The clearest and obvious part of the idea of elevating Zimmer to the defensive coordinator position in Minnesota is the fact that he and his dad are more than familiar with each other, which could lead to the organization to going this route to replace George Edwards.
Given Adam’s work in helping develop Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr, among others, into one of the more solid linebacker units in the NFL during his time as the linebackers coach, the young coach could finally get his shot at being a defensive coordinator in Minnesota in 2020 and beyond.