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.
Regarding the reports of former Vikings HC Mike Zimmer becoming the defensive coordinator at Colorado, I was told that is "not happening" from a source. #cubuffs
— Brian Howell (@BrianHowell33) December 7, 2022
Per multiple sources, Colorado is hiring Alabama associate defensive coordinator Charles Kelly to be the defensive coordinator for Deion Sanders' staff in Boulder #cubuffs
— Brian Howell (@BrianHowell33) December 7, 2022
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.
Mike Zimmer Vikings ex Head Coach will be Deion Sanders defensive coordinator at Colorado after going 12-0 at Jackson State-He gets 💰💰Pay raise and fresh clean drinking water 💦.
— Larry Fitzgerald Sr. (@FitzBeatSr) December 7, 2022
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.
Zimmer becoming a college DC makes all the sense in the world tbh. He's obsessed with coaching and would do it at any level. When we asked him a few years ago what he would do if he wasn't coaching football, he took a while to answer and then said "coaching high school football" https://t.co/OBoejfrgLp
— Arif Hasan, but NFL 🏈 (@ArifHasanNFL) December 7, 2022
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
