Who should be the Vikings new head coach? Mike Zimmer is gone, it’s not official, but it’s official. You don’t get to be a “defensive coach/guru” with a garbage defense year after year. The only thing Vikings’ fans have to look forward to until the 2022 NFL Draft is a new head coach. I happen to think fans are looking past one in house candidate and I’m here to explain why I think that’s a mistake for the best fanbase in the NFL.
Offensive Guru?
It’s understandable that Vikings’ fans are looking at offensive head coaches after watching their 1950’s offense that happens to include numerous superstars. A coach who thinks it’s a good idea to throw to Justin Jefferson? What a concept. Here’s the thing though, Zimmer is such a dick that he drives away good offensive coordinators and hires kids he can bully. This leads me to my plan for the future of the Vikings.
Forgot About Dre
Vikings DL Coach Andre Patterson
Andre Patterson is one of the most respected position coaches/coordinators in the NFL. What have the Vikings always been good at, even this season when their defense once again sucks? Sacks. Who’s developing the defensive lineman? Andre Patterson.
The amount of positive things players have to say about Patterson is incredible. I’m going to assume this means that Patterson isn’t an egomaniac who blames everything that goes wrong on everyone else. Think about the injuries the Vikings defensive line is dealing with this year. Both starting defensive ends out for half the season, plus defensive tackles that can’t stay healthy and they’re still leading the NFL in sacks. Patterson has quietly excelled at his job as Zimmer made his son the co-defensive coordinator and watched the defense fall apart. The Vikings defense certainly still needs work, and I believe Patterson knows how to fix it due to his familiarity.
But Seriously The Offense
If the Vikings name Patterson head coach, there’s still the worry about the Vikings’ offense from fans. What if, and stay with me here, Patterson isn’t a complete jackass and hires a good offensive coordinator who he lets actually run the offense? It’s groundbreaking, but it seems to work for non garbage head coaches. The Vikings don’t need an offensive or defensive coach, they need a head coach. Zimmer was never a head coach and the past few years he hasn’t even been an effective defensive coach. The players love and respect Patterson and again he just needs to hire a good offensive coordinator and allow them to do their job.
Personally, I would look to someone like current Bills’ QB Coach Ken Dorsey. Dorsey sucked at playing quarterback in the NFL, but holy cow has he developed Josh Allen. It’s easy to forget that Allen wasn’t very good his first couple of years in the NFL. He wasn’t accurate and I didn’t think that could be fixed, but Dorsey appears to have figured out how to do just that with Allen.
So Grumpy
Zimmer is also described as a grump. Honestly, that’s about as nice as you can describe him. Zimmer has consistently blamed players when the defense doesn’t perform. He seems incapable of self reflection, it’s always someone else’s fault. He doesn’t need to make any adjustments, the players just need to play better. Since the players have nothing but good things to say about Patterson, I’m going to assume he doesn’t talk about how horrible they are all the time.
Patterson has also given very thoughtful responses when asked questions at press conferences. It’s not just the play calling that needs to change in Minnesota, it’s the culture. I have faith that Patterson would turn the Vikings into a positive environment.
Final Thoughts
Buffalo Oc Brian Daboll embraces QB Josh Allen.
I get that most fans will still disagree with me and want a good offensive coordinator to be named head coach, and that’s fine. My Josh Allen development bias is showing, but Brian Daboll would be my preferred hire if the Vikings are dead set on hiring an offensive coach.
I just think that Vikings’ fans are suffering from Zimmer PTSD right now and a coach from a defensive background isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just make sure they’re not an egomaniacal control freak and things could work out fine.
