Head Coach in Training?

[CowboyMike]

What do ya'll make of this?

Parcells said defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer will not be coaching a specific position this season. "I was kidding him the other day," Parcells said of his defensive coordinator who doesn't have to school the outside linebackers any more as he did last year. "This is pretty good work if you can get it."

If you think about it, Zimmer is the only assistant coach that doesn't coach a specific position, but rather oversees the entire defense. Why is that? Is this for more of a head coaching type job? Think about it. Why do we have a defensive coordinator and not an offensive coordinator? Because Zimmer is that good?

I also remember Parcells saying years back that Zimmer reminded him of himself and a combination of Belicheck, although he didn't refer to Belicheck directly.

I tell you guys, Zimmer is in the running.

 

[theogt]

Yeah, that part of the PC really stuck out at me.

 

[Crown Royal]

I didn't hear it, but I am quite confident that the knocks and disbelief in Zimmer extends only to fans and message boards, not to the front office of many organizations, including ours. He is well thought of and, in my opinion, deservedly so.

 

[Rudy]

This is going to open up a whole can of worms with the Zimmer haters on here...

Needless to say, I'm excited to see the replies.

 

[THUMPER]

MIKE FREAKIN ZIMMER!!! uke: :bang2:

 

[cowboysfan31]

I think that Zimmer will excel this season and would make a good HC. He isn't much of teacher but he's a strong leader, and I'd rather have a leader than a teacher as my HC.

 

[JackMagist]

I think Zimmer is definitely in the running for the HC position when it comes open. He is one of the guys that Jerry insisted that Parcells at least give a chance when he (Bill) came here. Zimmer has been here a long time and is one of the last remaining links to the Glory Days of the 1990's.

My other suspect is Sparano who is now the Asst. HC as well as the Line Coach. He is the guy that the Cowboys would not give permission to go to NO as the OC there. Parcells has been high on this guy for a couple of years and he may be selling Jerry on him as well.

 

[DocScholl]

MIKE FREAKIN ZIMMER!!! uke: :bang2:

Word :

 

[big dog cowboy]

GROZ lives.

 

[JackMagist]

GROZ lives.

GROZ may be here for many years to come.

 

[ddh33]

I don't think Zimmer is quite as bad as he sometimes made out to be either. I think he's a very solid coach who has consistently taken some less talented defenses to rankings they probably shouldn't have had. Some folks are critical of his vanilla blitzes, but Bill doesn't like to blitz much anyway, and he's had a big hand in reigning Zimmer in, I believe.

Basically, I think Zimmer is more highly thought of in football circles than he is here.

 

[PacoReloaded]

What do ya'll make of this?

Parcells said defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer will not be coaching a specific position this season. "I was kidding him the other day," Parcells said of his defensive coordinator who doesn't have to school the outside linebackers any more as he did last year. "This is pretty good work if you can get it."

If you think about it, Zimmer is the only assistant coach that doesn't coach a specific position, but rather oversees the entire defense. Why is that? Is this for more of a head coaching type job? Think about it. Why do we have a defensive coordinator and not an offensive coordinator? Because Zimmer is that good?

I also remember Parcells saying years back that Zimmer reminded him of himself and a combination of Belicheck, although he didn't refer to Belicheck directly.

I tell you guys, Zimmer is in the running.

Oh wonderful.. *rolls eyes* We're getting ready to set ourselves up for Campo Era Part Deux.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Pretty funny BP quote......

"This is pretty good work if you can get it."

 

[THUMPER]

I don't think Zimmer is quite as bad as he sometimes made out to be either. I think he's a very solid coach who has consistently taken some less talented defenses to rankings they probably shouldn't have had. Some folks are critical of his vanilla blitzes, but Bill doesn't like to blitz much anyway, and he's had a big hand in reigning Zimmer in, I believe.

Basically, I think Zimmer is more highly thought of in football circles than he is here.

You must be less than 20 years old to make that statement because Bill Parcells LOVED to blitz before he came to Dallas. Ever heard of a guy by the name of Lawrence Taylor?

Zimmer plays the same style as his mentor, Dave Campo, the "bend-but-don't-break" "read and react" style of defense. It relies on stopping the run first and blitzing on passing downs. The problem is that his blitz packages are the least effective I have ever seen and teams KNOW when they are coming.

His style doesn't produce big plays because it isn't designed to. The high ranking our defense has achieved over the years was based SOLELY on yardage totals and not on the things that really matter like turnovers, sacks, fumbles, tackles for loss, 3rd downs, etc. Yardage totals mean NOTHING if you aren't making big plays.

 

[L-O-Jete]

I guess you hated Landry's Flex too huh?

 

[Doomsday]

Sounds like he already has the job when BP leaves. Not surprising at all given how big Jerry is on loyalty.

 

[ravidubey]

I didn't hear it, but I am quite confident that the knocks and disbelief in Zimmer extends only to fans and message boards, not to the front office of many organizations, including ours. He is well thought of and, in my opinion, deservedly so.

He reportedly was a very disappointing interview for the Rams job this offseason.

 

[ravidubey]

You must be less than 20 years old to make that statement because Bill Parcells LOVED to blitz before he came to Dallas. Ever heard of a guy by the name of Lawrence Taylor?

Zimmer plays the same style as his mentor, Dave Campo, the "bend-but-don't-break" "read and react" style of defense. It relies on stopping the run first and blitzing on passing downs. The problem is that his blitz packages are the least effective I have ever seen and teams KNOW when they are coming.

His style doesn't produce big plays because it isn't designed to. The high ranking our defense has achieved over the years was based SOLELY on yardage totals and not on the things that really matter like turnovers, sacks, fumbles, tackles for loss, 3rd downs, etc. Yardage totals mean NOTHING if you aren't making big plays.

To re-emphasize, Thumper is exactly right regarding Zimmers' past Campo-esque defenses.

Thing is Zimmer was terrible, even worse before Campo fixed him. Either Zimmer has pictures of Jerry and Bill in a compromising position or his style inspires confidence results notwithstanding.

One thing I'll say about those bend-don't-break teams is they never really had the kind of excellent talent that comprises most top defenses. It's one thing if his style was restraining a beast like Lawrence Taylor, but Zimmer's best LB blitz options were Dat Nguyen, Al Singleton, and Dexter Coakely. How can you blitz little guys between the tackles on a gap-control defense? He blitzed the Hell out of Roy and Woody in 2003, and that's all that generated any pressure at all that year.

It will be interesting to see what Zimmer does now with 4 big linebackers and 3 huge DL.