Twice in the past four years, Mike Zimmer has led an up-and-coming Vikings team to an NFC North title, reaching the NFC Championship Game after the 2017 season. And twice in the past four years, Zimmer's teams have followed up postseason trips by taking the division lead in October, only to lose it in the final months of the season, finish the year with an interim offensive coordinator and miss the playoffs.
Zimmer's offseason to-do list after 2018, then, sounds fairly similar to the one that faced him after 2016: He must make a decision on his offensive coordinator, and he must figure out how to help his team re-establish its footing.
"We had a chip on our shoulder last year," Zimmer said in his season-ending news conference Thursday. "I don't know that that chip was there. And we're going to get it back. You can look at a lot of statistics, but quite honestly, this football team through the years I've been here had that nasty, 'We're going to win no matter what the situation is' mentality, and I don't know that we had it [this season].
"It's a different vibe with this football team, and I don't know exactly why ... for some reason, we didn't finish the games like we did before. We're going to get that mentality back."
It remains to be seen what would happen should the Vikings fail to find their footing again in 2019. Zimmer, who is entering the final year of his contract in 2019, said on Thursday he's "got no problem" working in the final year of a deal.
"Free agent after that, right?" he joked. Zimmer also called speculation that he had been contemplating retirement "fake news," adding, "I'm not a quitter."
Sources have told the Star Tribune that General Manager Rick Spielman is also heading into the final year of his contract. The team could work out extensions with both men this offseason, but Vikings ownership would have to decide what's in their best interest over the long term.
The Vikings' most immediate decision revolves around their offensive coordinator opening. Interim coordinator Kevin Stefanski interviewed for the Browns coaching position Thursday, and his deal with the Vikings expires Tuesday. League sources also told the Star Tribune on Thursday that former Browns coach Hue Jackson, a confidant of Zimmer's from their time together in Cincinnati, could be a leading candidate for the job, depending on whether Spielman approves of the move.