The Cowboys have a new defensive coordinator.
Mike Zimmer will indeed be Dallas’ next defensive coordinator after the two sides agreed to a deal on Monday. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports..
The hire was announced after a bizarre 24 hours in which former Jets and Bills coach Rex Ryan had doubts that Zimmer would be given the job or that perhaps Ryan was still in the running. .
Zimmer returned to the Cowboys, where he coached for more than a decade as a defensive assistant, defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator.
He hasn’t coached in the NFL since 2021, when he was fired by the Vikings after eight seasons.
The 67-year-old is the third winningest head coach in Vikings history and is praised for his acumen on the defensive side of the ball.
Zimmer had a 74-59-1 record as Minnesota’s head coach, going 2-3 in the playoffs.
After being fired, he served as an analyst at Jackson State University in 2022 and Colorado State University in 2023.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that Zimmer was hired by the Cowboys over the weekend, as he performed his hit song on Sunday ahead of the 2024 Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
Schefter said he was surprised Ryan, an NFL analyst for ESPN, didn’t get the job after interviewing because the Cowboys “love him.”
But after throwing it back at the desk where Ryan was sitting, the former NFL head coach countered that the deal with Zimmer was done.
Then on Monday, Mr. Schefter appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” and retracted reports that the deal was done.
“Mike Zimmer’s contract wasn’t done yet, so they contacted Rex after that and contacted him 15 minutes before that segment and said, ‘Hey, can we hit something?'” Confusion arose. “Zimmer’s contract is not done yet,” Schefter said Monday.
Zimmer replaces former DC Dan Quinn, who left this offseason to take the head coaching job.
