Mike Zimmer reintroduces himself as Cowboys defensive coordinator: ‘Just trying to help players’

Freshly shaven with a trademark smirk, new Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer looked refreshed Wednesday while ending a two-year hiatus from the NFL.

The roughly 35-minute introductory press conference was a welcome-back party for Zimmer, who spent 13 years coaching defense in Dallas through 2006. It was also partly a reintroduction for the 67-year-old football lifer, and partly a stand-up comedy routine with his former NFC North rival Mike McCarthy — the Cowboys head coach by way of Green Bay.

Zimmer, who was fired in January 2022 by the Vikings after eight seasons, talked about his desire to return to Dallas, where he won a Super Bowl in 1995 as Cowboys defensive backs coach, and reuniting with owner Jerry Jones. He discussed a “reputation out there that I’m a jerk,” what he’s done in two years away, and his passion in chasing another Super Bowl.

McCarthy lauded Zimmer as a masterful tactician with “a great fastball, a great curveball and a sweet changeup.”

Minutes later, a standard Zim changeup landed when discussing watching Cowboys games.

“Maybe half the season or something like that?” Zimmer said. “Just trying to get a feel for the players. Obviously, offensively the best in the NFL, which I’m not sure I ever had that before.”

“Keep that up, would you?” he added while tapping McCarthy.

The Vikings’ highest-ranked offense under Zimmer finished fourth in yardage in 2020, when receiver Justin Jefferson was drafted and the defense began deteriorating.

Replacing Dan Quinn, who was hired as Commanders head coach, Zimmer now takes the reins of a loaded Cowboys defensive roster that has finished 12-5 in each of the last three years under McCarthy, who has overseen the No. 1 scoring offense in two of the last three seasons.

Zimmer said he wanted to return to Dallas more than any other opportunity he was presented over the past two years, in which he did consulting for Jackson State and Colorado for one of his friends and former players, Deion Sanders.

“The opportunity to be here with the Cowboys and the organization,” Zimmer said. “Jerry’s been great. Stephen’s a great friend. But the lure was really the football team and Mike. I think that was the most important thing.”

“The one good thing about it is I don’t have to do these media press conferences every single day anymore,” he quipped, “which is OK with me.”

“He wanted to do this by himself,” McCarthy said while sitting next to Zimmer, “so I think he’s pulling your leg a little bit there.”

Here are five highlights from Zimmer’s press conference.

On what he missed from the NFL and whether he considered retirement: “Nah, not really. Sometimes it’s forced retirement, but it’s more about getting the right situation for you. Like I said before, I had opportunities — other opportunities that I could’ve taken, but I wasn’t going to go somewhere I didn’t feel comfortable with the organization and the people there.”

“You always miss football, you miss coaching, you miss the relationships with the players, you miss the relationships with the coaches. I probably needed a little time off just because some of the things that happened with family. And that was important to me to take some time to help the rest of my family in some of those situations, too. But at the end of the day it draws back in. My dad was a high school coach for 30-some years, I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I’m excited to try to get where I can help players be better and teams to be better.”

On his college experience and what he learned about coaching young players: “First thing is Deion [Sanders] and I connected here many, many years ago. I didn’t know him at all. First time I met him, he basically had an entourage with him; the chains and all the stuff. We’d become unbelievably great friends. I haven’t spent as much time at Jackson State and Colorado as people think, quite honestly. I was at Jackson St. two days and I’ve never been to Colorado. But we talk on the phone a lot, he asks me questions about coaching, and coaches.”

“There’s a reputation out there that I’m a jerk or something like that, which hey, it is what it is, I guess. But you know since it was announced I was going to be here, I’ve heard from so many players that played for me. Players here, not just defensive backs, but linebackers and defensive linemen texted me and said how happy they are for me. I think if I was such a jerk I wouldn’t be hearing from those guys.”

On a specific Vikings player he heard from recently: “Xavier Rhodes called me probably five months ago. I was on his rear end every day about being disciplined, getting into the right footwork and all this stuff. He became a terrific player, you know? He called me and said, ‘Coach, I know how hard you were on me, but I appreciate what you’ve done for me and for my family,’ and things like that. You hear that, there’s — I was probably too hard on a lot of players. But I’ve heard it several times. It makes you feel good, and you understand you’re just trying to help them. You’re not just out to be a mean guy or something like that.”

On his coaching style: “I think these guys that saw me [in Dallas] 18 years ago, they’ve evolved. I think I’ve evolved, too, otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here. I’m demanding. I try to get the best out of players. To me, there’s a difference. I had one player who was a terrific player and you could not yell at him, you had to put your arm around him, whisper, he didn’t like to be reprimanded in front of people. And that’s what I did with him and he became a terrific player. Other players, I’d get after and you probably know some of the names, one of them was here. I’d say it to him, Pacman Jones, right? He gives me the biggest hugs now when I see him, but we’ve had our issues going back and forth. I think everybody is different. You try to hit the button however it is to make them better.”

On what hasn’t changed about his approach: “Competitiveness. Being technique-oriented, fundamental, disciplined, [not doing] those are the kinds of things that get me grouchy.”