It can’t be stated enough that Mike Zimmer saved the Vikings franchise.
When Zimmer arrived in 2014, the franchise was in disarray. Outside of Adrian Peterson’s MVP season — which in and of itself was filled with issues — the Vikings had been on a downward spiral since the NFC Championship against the Saints. From Brad Childress getting fired for cause after releasing Randy Moss, to the forced selection of Christian Ponder, all the way to Percy Harvin forcing his way out of town, the myriad issues kept building.
When Zimmer took over, the Vikings were a 3-13 team that needed a savior. It was evident once Teddy Bridgewater started at quarterback that Zimmer was the guy. He fixed the defense almost immediately, taking the unit from the worst scoring defense in the league to 11th in just one offseason. In his second season, Zimmer had the team at 11-5 and won the division. Just two years later, the Vikings went 13-3 and were a game away from the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, that was when the team plateaued, so now a change needs to be made at head coach.
