When Mike Zimmer starts the 2020 season, only Bud Grant and Dennis Green will have coached the Vikings longer than him.
The fact is that he was hired because the Wilf family and the Vikings front office believed he could turn the team into a dominant defensive club, and Zimmer has done just that.
Since Zimmer took over as coach in 2014, the Vikings rank No. 2 in the NFL in points against with 1,848, trailing only the New England Patriots.
But even Zimmer would admit that the Vikings defense struggled a bit during a 2019 season that saw them reach the postseason for the third time in his tenure, win a playoff game at New Orleans and ultimately fall at San Francisco to a 49ers team that should have won the Super Bowl.