On Friday, the Dallas Cowboys announced they would hire Brian Schottenheimer as their new head coach. Schottenheimer spent the past two seasons as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator, meaning they must fill the position.
Dallas will need to find a new defensive coordinator for 2025, too. Mike Zimmer told Ed Werder that he would not return to the Cowboys and would likely retire.
Mike Zimmer tells me that he will not be returning to the #Cowboys as a member of Brian Schottenheimer’s coaching staff and will likely retire from coaching in the NFL.
Zimmer served as defensive coordinator last season. Cowboys likely to hire Matt Eberflus as DC, per sources. pic.twitter.com/MhKp1Lpfkv— Ed Werder (@WerderEdNFL) January 26, 2025
After taking two years off after being fired by the Minnesota Vikings following the 2021 season, Zimmer took over the Cowboys’ defense in 2024. The Cowboys defense struggled all season, yielding the second-most points in the league and ranking 28th in yards allowed.
Long regarded as one of the league’s premier defensive minds, Zimmer didn’t have as much success at the end of his career. The Vikings ranked 27th in yards allowed in 2020 and 30th in 2021.
But this shouldn’t erase what he did for most of his career. Zimmer entered the NFL with the Cowboys in 1994 and spent 13 years there. After a brief stint in Atlanta and a successful run in Cincinnati, the Vikings hired Zimmer as head coach in 2014. He turned Minnesota’s defense around overnight, improving them from the 31st-ranked unit in 2013 to the 14th-ranked unit in 2014.
The defense improved over his first four seasons, culminating in 2017 when the Vikings finished 13-3 and had the league’s top-ranked defense. Zimmer got his first playoff win against the New Orleans Saints in the “Minneapolis Miracle,” one of the best games in playoff history.
Zimmer finished his eight-year stint as the Vikings’ head coach with a 72-56-1 regular-season record and a 2-3 postseason record. His .562 regular-season winning percentage is the fourth-highest mark in team history.