Rick Spielman is excited to see new head coach Mike Zimmer open his first training camp this week in Mankato. Spielman went through an extensive information gathering process before hiring Zimmer last winter and when finished was convinced he found the right coach.
“I told our owners we were fortunate he was available,” the Vikings’ general manager told Sports Headliners.
Zimmer is 58 and had been a career assistant in the NFL before Spielman gave him his first head coaching opportunity. Spielman was in the Vikings’ front office as head of player personnel, not general manager, when Leslie Frazier was promoted from interim to head coach after the 2010 season. Nor did Spielman have the hiring responsibility when Brad Childress was made head coach about eight years ago, and so Zimmer is his first hire. What was Spielman looking for in a head coach?
A teacher and demanding leader, Spielman answered. Those are characteristics Spielman heard repeated when he talked to players and their agents as they described how Zimmer’s coaching made a difference in performance.
Ex-Viking Bob Lurtsema said Vikings players know they will be held accountable for mistakes and efforts by Zimmer and his staff. “Everything going in right now (in camp) is total competition,” Lurtsema said.
Lurtsema believes fans could be surprised about who makes the team and that players are excited about the competitive environment expected in Mankato. “They’re saying (the players) these coaches love to coach. That’s a contagious attitude. The players that deserve to be a member of the Minnesota Vikings will embrace it rather than fight it.”
Spielman has not only made a commitment to Zimmer by hiring him but the Vikings have also paid for a new weight room and meeting room. There are other changes too including an emphasis on healthier food with less fat and sugar.
Worth Noting
Zimmer at 58 is as old as Bud Grant when he retired as Vikings head coach after the 1985 season. Grant decided to give up football to focus on the outdoor life of hunting and fishing including internationally. Grant was the second head coach in franchise history. Zimmer is the ninth.
Although this will be Zimmer’s first year as an NFL head coach, it certainly won’t be the most painful emotionally. Zimmer’s wife Vikki died unexpectedly during the 2009 season.
The Vikings agreement with KARE-11 to televise preseason games runs through next year, positioning the NFL club to negotiate a new deal as the team moves into the opening season of its downtown Minneapolis stadium in 2016.
Based on past interest, about 400,000 viewers are expected to watch each preseason game this summer. If so, the KARE 11 telecasts will exceed any competing programming in local viewership including Twins games.
The Vikings’ final preseason game of 2014 will be on August 28 against the Titans in Nashville. That game begins at 7 p.m. while the Gophers have their nonconference season opener the same night at home starting at 6 p.m. against Eastern Illinois. The Minnesota game will be on the Big Ten Network and may also attract approximately 400,000 viewers with many Minnesotans switching back and forth between the Gophers and Vikings.
The Gophers start football practice a week from today. Prior to their opening game, the public will be allowed to watch practices on August 3, 4 and 5. All three practices will be at the Gibson-Nagurski Complex with a start time of 10:25 a.m. on August 3, and 5:15 p.m. for the other two practices.
According to numbers as of last week, the Gophers had sold 3,331 student season football tickets, compared with 1,921 last year. The nonstudent season ticket total was 28,106 compared with 27,951 a year ago.
Look for an announcement later this summer about how the public can donate to the Gophers $190 million campaign to improve athletic facilities. Athletic Department officials have focused on larger contributors since the campaign was announced last year but names of those making pledges haven’t been made public.
Tony Dungy is sometimes written about because of the opportunity the Gophers gave him as an African-American to play quarterback for the team. What’s not so well-known is that starting with Sandy Stephens in 1959 the Gophers had at least six African-American quarterbacks on their rosters prior to Dungy’s arrival in Minneapolis in 1973. Minnesota gave opportunities to African-Americans to play quarterback when other schools didn’t and Stephens was the first ever All-American black QB.
Giovan Jenkins begins his sixth season as Washburn High School’s head football coach when the Millers officially start practice on August 11 and he’s not used to losing City Conference games. Jenkins was an assistant coach at Washburn before he became head coach, and the Millers have won or shared the last 13 city titles. His 2014 team will be without almost all of last year’s starters but Jenkins expects to contend for a championship again and is likely to have about 65 players, including freshmen, out for the team—probably the biggest turnout for football among Minneapolis high schools.
Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino said Elliott Eliason’s conditioning has resulted in the senior center having less than 10 percent body fat. Returning senior point guard DeAndre Mathieu has added about “13 pounds of muscle,” and junior guard Carlos “Squirrel” Morris, a transfer, has put on 17 pounds, the coach said.
Dave and Linda Mona’s Camden’s Concert next Wednesday night at the Hopkins Center for the Arts will feature The Wright Brothers, a popular singing group that has prompted record ticket sales for the fifth annual event. The concert is named for the Mona’s grandson and benefits Cystic Fibrosis. An on-line auction with more than 125 items is also drawing attention. More at Camdensconcert.com.