September 2, 2024 • 11 mins
Former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer unloads on his former NFL employer in an interview with Star Tribune writer Mark Craig.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer unloads on his
former NFL employer that once called him the head coach
for the Minnesota Vikings. We are gonna lay it all
out on this episode, and there's gonna be a fun
(00:22):
discussion and reaction about Mike Zimmer, his comments and much
much more.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So let's dive into it.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Mike Zimmer coach the Minnesota Vikings for a while back
in the day, and he unloaded on an interview with
Star Tribune writer Mark Craig.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And let's just read some of the comments.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I'll share the screen with you so you can follow
along with me, because there are a lot of comments
that made headlines on Saturday from this last weekend. This
article came from Minnesota sportsfan dot com, which I am
on daily the Great website.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
He had this to say about Chris Boyd.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
He said, some of the negative player reactions after his
firing Harley registered for Zimmer. Chris Boyd. He says something
about me. He says, I'm like, dude, you had more
special team penalties than anyone I can remember. And when
(01:30):
he was the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings, him
and Minnesota Vikings play by play broadcaster KFA and personality
Paul Allen, who's been on this show multiple times. Very
good guy, very nice guy, a fellow Christian, which is
absolutely awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
They used to be friends, and.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Mike Zimmer ended that relationship pretty quickly because Paul Allen
reported a snaffo between Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins back
when the fight was happening on the sidelines after the
Minnesota Vikings kicked like the game winning field goal after
they were down a lot of points, Kirk Cousins got
(02:11):
in Mike Zimmer's face. Mike Zimmer got in Kirk Cousins's face,
and there's a little pushing match. And I think the
first reaction to this little pushing match was just intensity, excitement,
over joymand, and just two guys that didn't know how
to react because they're so excited. But then as the
story came out, it wasn't that at all. It was
(02:32):
literally two players that hated each other, while a head
coach and a player that hated each other, and they
were literally in each other's faces because they did not
like each other. But so Paul had reported about that.
He said, and here's what Zimmer said, he says, Hey,
I pushed Kirk back pretty hard too. Zimmer says, for
(02:53):
the record, but I just didn't like what PA said.
We are supposed to be friends. Why you gotta talk
about Unfortunately, I hold grudges. That's just how I am.
So this is Mike Zimmer, and apparently he bought Paul
Allen out of the horse that they had together at
(03:14):
Canterbury Park I think it was.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
And then the juicy.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Nugget came out about the draft where they drafted Kellen
Mond and a couple of other guys.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I'll just read it. It says the.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
First round, Rick tried to trade up for Justin Fields,
who hasn't done anything.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Zimmer says.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
With four third round picks, Bielman selected in order, quarterback
Kellen Mond, linebacker Chas Surratt, offensive lineman Wyatt Davis, and
defensive end Patrick Jones the second. Zimmer was there for
only the first pick. When he picked Mond, I walked
(03:51):
out of the room. Zimmer says, I left the building.
I didn't even talk to him on the phone. The
two spoke the next morning. Rick's said, you mad at me?
I said, yeah, I think it took four backups and
we had guys there, I thought or Starter. Zimmer says,
from that time on, it just kind of got worse
(04:12):
between us, and the relationship between Rick Spielman and Mike
Zimmer is very well reported. Zimmer couldn't stan Spielman. He
hated him from the moment that he signed Kurt Cousins
to a three year deal worth a lot of money.
And Mike Zimmer wanted to focus his problems or focus
(04:35):
all of his energy on the defensive side of the
ball because he's a defensive head coach. And they had
the success back when Case came him through the miracle.
But my problem with the miracle play, and it's a
sensational play, but you cannot base future seasons for the
(04:56):
Minnesota Vikings on that miracle play. You cannot say, well,
we made it to the NFC Championship Game with Case Keenum.
I mean they did, but it took a miracle to
get there. And the odds that you're going to get
another miracle to land in the NFC Championship Game from
(05:17):
Case Keenum, who's been a subpart average quarterback his entire career,
isn't going to be likely again. And I think that's
the stance that Rick Spielman took.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I mean, it makes sense.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
You're not going to recreate a special season from case
Keenum like he did with the Minnesota Vikings when he's
through the miracle to Stefon Diggs. You're not gonna do
that again, no matter how great your defense is. And
the Denver Broncos try to recreate that with case Keenum,
gave him the big contract and he failed.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
There wasn't very successful.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So Mike Zimmers upset at Rick Spielman for bringing in
Kirk Cousins after that a very good season with their
defense and with Kase Keenum and blah blah blah blah blah.
But you weren't going to recreate that with Kase Keenum.
You needed some magic, superstar talent in the building, and
that's what Kirk Cousins sort of offered. He's not a
(06:19):
superstar talent, but he's certainly an All Pro all star talent,
a quarterback that the Minnesota Vikings hadn't had some two
thousand and nine.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
With the Brett Favre.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
He at least put the Minnesota Vikings in the game,
gave him a chance. But Mike Zimmer hated Kirk Cousins
from the get go, and he hated Rix s Pilman
from the get go. He hated Kellen Mahd and Wyatt
Davis and chess are time who knows here's a bus
chas are Att hated that guy too. So my overall
(06:53):
reaction from Mike Zimmer in this article is why, Wow,
how can a guy be so hard knows he's a
hard nose head coach, he's honest players. Apparently he didn't
say hello to the players that as they walk down
the hallway. I think Brian O'Neil talked about that. And
(07:17):
at the same time be so sensitive. You're so hard
on any defensive and offensive players. You're a hard nose
head coach. But Pia reports on a little snaffoo between
you and Kirk Cousins, and you end the relationship. Rick
Spielman drass a couple of guys they didn't want, which
I'm sure happens all the time between general manager and
(07:38):
head coach, and you can't even stay in the building.
You are soft with a capital as you are weak.
You know, as this article comes out and you're reading,
you know the the quotes from it, because I don't
have a subscription at the Star Tribune. You read some
(08:05):
of these things and you lose respect for Mike Zimmer.
I mean, this makes him look worse than he already did.
There was already so many players that came out after
his firing and said, Zimmer did this, and Zimmer did that.
This was not good. He was not a good head coach.
He was terrible to his players and do his staff
and blah blah blah.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Blah blah whatever, whatever whatever.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
And then he comes out and makes himself look even
worse in this article talking about holding grudges and adding
relationships because of a report, talking about not even answering
the phone or being in the building when the Minnesota
Vikings called their draftees. Is though, you're not even giving
your players a chance to be successful. You're not putting
(08:51):
them in a situation or a structure to be successful.
You're building your own bridge, building your own bridge. Hoop's wrong,
but huh.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
You're building your own grave. So what are you doing? Man?
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I thought John Kriesel, who is a K fan personality,
where did it really well? And I'm gonna read it.
I'm gonna share this screen with you on Twitter, says
I used to think Mike Zimmer was a solid coach,
and I loved his rugged approach, which I think a
(09:28):
lot of people agree with. That no nonsense stuff. That's
enjoyable for a time. You know, it's fun to see
a head coach not take any craft from anybody. And
then he continues, But that strip article is an indictment.
He expected toughness out of his players, while simple criticism
(09:50):
hurt him charmin soft. This article makes Mike Zimmer look
like a soft of shit.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
He looks.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Terrible in this article, and any future head coaching jobs
are probably out the window, and maybe he doesn't want one.
Maybe he just wants to be the defensive coordinator for
the Cowboys for the rest of his career. But wow,
I don't think I've ever seen a more stupid decision
(10:30):
from a former head coach to go to a national
or local entity. It was my thumbs up was up,
So gave me a thumbs.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Up and.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Make himself look like a complete jackass because that's how
he looks.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
What a story.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Great job by Mark Craig of the start you're being
to get this story out there. Stupid decision by Mike's
were to let it out there because anything that was
going to make him look good from this article, and
he talked about his son and losing him, debt, losing
him I think it was to alcoholism, talked about that process,
(11:14):
which of course no one's going to write about that.
No one's going to talk about the reaction to Mike
Zimmer because I didn't see any of it. That was
all about how he treated his former players and former
draft picks. That's the juicy stuff, the sentimental stuff, I'm
sure was really good. I didn't get a chance to
(11:36):
read it because I don't have a subscription, and nobody
talked about it, no one re reacted to it. So anyways,
those are my reactions to Mike Zimmer's tell all with
the Minnesota Vikings,
Former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer unloads on his
former NFL employer that once called him the head coach
for the Minnesota Vikings. We are gonna lay it all
out on this episode, and there's gonna be a fun
(00:22):
discussion and reaction about Mike Zimmer, his comments and much
much more.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So let's dive into it.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Mike Zimmer coach the Minnesota Vikings for a while back
in the day, and he unloaded on an interview with
Star Tribune writer Mark Craig.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
And let's just read some of the comments.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I'll share the screen with you so you can follow
along with me, because there are a lot of comments
that made headlines on Saturday from this last weekend. This
article came from Minnesota sportsfan dot com, which I am
on daily the Great website.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
He had this to say about Chris Boyd.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
He said, some of the negative player reactions after his
firing Harley registered for Zimmer. Chris Boyd. He says something
about me. He says, I'm like, dude, you had more
special team penalties than anyone I can remember. And when
(01:30):
he was the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings, him
and Minnesota Vikings play by play broadcaster KFA and personality
Paul Allen, who's been on this show multiple times. Very
good guy, very nice guy, a fellow Christian, which is
absolutely awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
They used to be friends, and.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Mike Zimmer ended that relationship pretty quickly because Paul Allen
reported a snaffo between Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins back
when the fight was happening on the sidelines after the
Minnesota Vikings kicked like the game winning field goal after
they were down a lot of points, Kirk Cousins got
(02:11):
in Mike Zimmer's face. Mike Zimmer got in Kirk Cousins's face,
and there's a little pushing match. And I think the
first reaction to this little pushing match was just intensity, excitement,
over joymand, and just two guys that didn't know how
to react because they're so excited. But then as the
story came out, it wasn't that at all. It was
(02:32):
literally two players that hated each other, while a head
coach and a player that hated each other, and they
were literally in each other's faces because they did not
like each other. But so Paul had reported about that.
He said, and here's what Zimmer said, he says, Hey,
I pushed Kirk back pretty hard too. Zimmer says, for
(02:53):
the record, but I just didn't like what PA said.
We are supposed to be friends. Why you gotta talk
about Unfortunately, I hold grudges. That's just how I am.
So this is Mike Zimmer, and apparently he bought Paul
Allen out of the horse that they had together at
(03:14):
Canterbury Park I think it was.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
And then the juicy.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Nugget came out about the draft where they drafted Kellen
Mond and a couple of other guys.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I'll just read it. It says the.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
First round, Rick tried to trade up for Justin Fields,
who hasn't done anything.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Zimmer says.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
With four third round picks, Bielman selected in order, quarterback
Kellen Mond, linebacker Chas Surratt, offensive lineman Wyatt Davis, and
defensive end Patrick Jones the second. Zimmer was there for
only the first pick. When he picked Mond, I walked
(03:51):
out of the room. Zimmer says, I left the building.
I didn't even talk to him on the phone. The
two spoke the next morning. Rick's said, you mad at me?
I said, yeah, I think it took four backups and
we had guys there, I thought or Starter. Zimmer says,
from that time on, it just kind of got worse
(04:12):
between us, and the relationship between Rick Spielman and Mike
Zimmer is very well reported. Zimmer couldn't stan Spielman. He
hated him from the moment that he signed Kurt Cousins
to a three year deal worth a lot of money.
And Mike Zimmer wanted to focus his problems or focus
(04:35):
all of his energy on the defensive side of the
ball because he's a defensive head coach. And they had
the success back when Case came him through the miracle.
But my problem with the miracle play, and it's a
sensational play, but you cannot base future seasons for the
(04:56):
Minnesota Vikings on that miracle play. You cannot say, well,
we made it to the NFC Championship Game with Case Keenum.
I mean they did, but it took a miracle to
get there. And the odds that you're going to get
another miracle to land in the NFC Championship Game from
(05:17):
Case Keenum, who's been a subpart average quarterback his entire career,
isn't going to be likely again. And I think that's
the stance that Rick Spielman took.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I mean, it makes sense.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
You're not going to recreate a special season from case
Keenum like he did with the Minnesota Vikings when he's
through the miracle to Stefon Diggs. You're not gonna do
that again, no matter how great your defense is. And
the Denver Broncos try to recreate that with case Keenum,
gave him the big contract and he failed.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
There wasn't very successful.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So Mike Zimmers upset at Rick Spielman for bringing in
Kirk Cousins after that a very good season with their
defense and with Kase Keenum and blah blah blah blah blah.
But you weren't going to recreate that with Kase Keenum.
You needed some magic, superstar talent in the building, and
that's what Kirk Cousins sort of offered. He's not a
(06:19):
superstar talent, but he's certainly an All Pro all star talent,
a quarterback that the Minnesota Vikings hadn't had some two
thousand and nine.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
With the Brett Favre.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
He at least put the Minnesota Vikings in the game,
gave him a chance. But Mike Zimmer hated Kirk Cousins
from the get go, and he hated Rix s Pilman
from the get go. He hated Kellen Mahd and Wyatt
Davis and chess are time who knows here's a bus
chas are Att hated that guy too. So my overall
(06:53):
reaction from Mike Zimmer in this article is why, Wow,
how can a guy be so hard knows he's a
hard nose head coach, he's honest players. Apparently he didn't
say hello to the players that as they walk down
the hallway. I think Brian O'Neil talked about that. And
(07:17):
at the same time be so sensitive. You're so hard
on any defensive and offensive players. You're a hard nose
head coach. But Pia reports on a little snaffoo between
you and Kirk Cousins, and you end the relationship. Rick
Spielman drass a couple of guys they didn't want, which
I'm sure happens all the time between general manager and
(07:38):
head coach, and you can't even stay in the building.
You are soft with a capital as you are weak.
You know, as this article comes out and you're reading,
you know the the quotes from it, because I don't
have a subscription at the Star Tribune. You read some
(08:05):
of these things and you lose respect for Mike Zimmer.
I mean, this makes him look worse than he already did.
There was already so many players that came out after
his firing and said, Zimmer did this, and Zimmer did that.
This was not good. He was not a good head coach.
He was terrible to his players and do his staff
and blah blah blah.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Blah blah whatever, whatever whatever.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
And then he comes out and makes himself look even
worse in this article talking about holding grudges and adding
relationships because of a report, talking about not even answering
the phone or being in the building when the Minnesota
Vikings called their draftees. Is though, you're not even giving
your players a chance to be successful. You're not putting
(08:51):
them in a situation or a structure to be successful.
You're building your own bridge, building your own bridge. Hoop's wrong,
but huh.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
You're building your own grave. So what are you doing? Man?
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I thought John Kriesel, who is a K fan personality,
where did it really well? And I'm gonna read it.
I'm gonna share this screen with you on Twitter, says
I used to think Mike Zimmer was a solid coach,
and I loved his rugged approach, which I think a
(09:28):
lot of people agree with. That no nonsense stuff. That's
enjoyable for a time. You know, it's fun to see
a head coach not take any craft from anybody. And
then he continues, But that strip article is an indictment.
He expected toughness out of his players, while simple criticism
(09:50):
hurt him charmin soft. This article makes Mike Zimmer look
like a soft of shit.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
He looks.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Terrible in this article, and any future head coaching jobs
are probably out the window, and maybe he doesn't want one.
Maybe he just wants to be the defensive coordinator for
the Cowboys for the rest of his career. But wow,
I don't think I've ever seen a more stupid decision
(10:30):
from a former head coach to go to a national
or local entity. It was my thumbs up was up,
So gave me a thumbs.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Up and.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Make himself look like a complete jackass because that's how
he looks.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
What a story.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Great job by Mark Craig of the start you're being
to get this story out there. Stupid decision by Mike's
were to let it out there because anything that was
going to make him look good from this article, and
he talked about his son and losing him, debt, losing
him I think it was to alcoholism, talked about that process,
(11:14):
which of course no one's going to write about that.
No one's going to talk about the reaction to Mike
Zimmer because I didn't see any of it. That was
all about how he treated his former players and former
draft picks. That's the juicy stuff, the sentimental stuff, I'm
sure was really good. I didn't get a chance to
(11:36):
read it because I don't have a subscription, and nobody
talked about it, no one re reacted to it. So anyways,
those are my reactions to Mike Zimmer's tell all with
the Minnesota Vikings,
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