Mike Zimmer's no-respect angle is out of date

There remain football coaches devoted to the trite approach of selling the no-respect angle to their players, even when it comes with no basis in reality.

Mike Zimmer turned 60 in June, and he's entering his third season as head coach of the Vikings and his 23rd season of coaching in the NFL.

Apparently, he still believes players can be motivated by lying over what's being said about them — still believes that in an age when players can find out in a minute on their phones what's actually being said about their team.

In the case of the Vikings, it has been rampant optimism for 2016 from the moment they outplayed Seattle in a playoff game last January, only to lose when Blair Walsh missed a layup of a field goal.

The turnaround 11-5 season was followed by the Vikings' receiving strong reviews for their work in free agency and in the draft.

The story line from the local media, the bulk of the national media and certainly from Minnesota's sporting public is that the Vikings are so loaded with talent and so well-coached a Super Bowl is a reasonable possibility.

No matter. Zimmer opened training camp by giving the media a preview of the message that he would give his team: "People are saying we're not even in the top half of the NFC.''

When challenged by a reporter, Zimmer said he had seen "lots'' of predictions counting out the Vikings.

No, he had not seen lots of those, because lots of negative predictions on the Vikings do not exist.

That didn't stop Zimmer from trying to sell the no-respect angle to players, even though anyone in the locker room with a half a brain knew it was nonsense.

Gophers coach Tracy Claeys didn't have to sell that angle to his players. Sid Hartman did it for him in a recent column. Sid claimed the Gophers were predicted to finish last in the Big Ten West in "several publications.''

Come on, Sid. Street & Smith is out of business. The naysaying publications angle doesn't work as well today as it did for Murray Warmath's Gophers in 1960.

Summer revelations on Minnesota sports scene:

• Tyus Jones had some definition on his previously scrawny frame and showed an NBA future, even if it was in the summer league.

• Kris Dunn is going to be a terrific rookie as a combination guard for the Wolves. He's a man, not a kid.

• The Twins will be required to find a place in the 2017 lineup for Jorge Polanco, a 23-year-old switch hitter who can hit.

Read Patrick Reusse's blog at startribune.com/patrick. E-mail him at preusse@startribune.com.