Pro Football Rumors
When the Cowboys elected to part ways with former head coach Mike McCarthy earlier this month, the writing was on the wall for defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who joined the Dallas staff in 2024 and whose future with the club was tied to McCarthy’s. Zimmer has now confirmed that he will not return to the Cowboys as a member of new HC Brian Schottenheimer’s staff, and that he will likely retire from coaching in the NFL (per WFAA’s Ed Werder, who confirms prior reports that Matt Eberflus is in line to replace Zimmer as DC).
Given that Zimmer is now 68, retirement was an obvious option as soon as it became clear he was unlikely to be back with the Cowboys in 2025. Now, it seems he is more certain about stepping away from the NFL sidelines for good.
Zimmer began his coaching career as a defensive assistant with the University of Missouri in 1979, and his first professional gig came as a defensive assistant on the Cowboys’ staff in 1994 (he earned a Super Bowl ring as a member of the club in 1995). He worked his way up the Dallas ranks and operated as the team’s defensive coordinator from 2000-06 before taking the same job with the Falcons in 2007 and then working as the Bengals’ DC from 2008-13.
Although Cincinnati famously never won a playoff game during Marvin Lewis‘ tenure as head coach, Zimmer’s arrival in the Queen City coincided with the team’s ascension to regular competitiveness. During his six-year stint as defensive coordinator, the Bengals never finished lower than 15th in total defense and posted two top-10 and two top-five finishes in that span. That run of success garnered Zimmer head coaching interest, and the Vikings hired him as their HC in 2014.
More to come.
