Zimmer Situation Is Looking Like Boomer in '97

After back to back statement wins against Balitmore and Pittsburgh, and three straight games of defensive brilliance, Mike Zimmer's stock has never been higher.  He is a free agent after this year, and many have him on the short list of head coaching hires going into the off-season. 

The Bengals have a decision to make.  Regardless of how this season ends up, Zimmer is going to attract a lot of attention from around the league.  He has taken a horrific defense and turned them into a unit that is playing (as of right now) tougher than anyone in the AFC, and arguably the NFL.  He did that by having a system where he identified his type of players, and then went out and got them...be it through the draft, free agency or off the scrap heap.  I truly believe the two biggest reasons why this team is 7-2 right now is because of stability at the center position and Mike Zimmer. 

Every year there are firings, and some teams will have a lot of cash to throw at Zimmer to be their next head coach.  Throw into the mix that after this year's tragedy with Zimmer's wife, it would be very understandable if Zimmer wanted a fresh start in a new city, possibly to be closer with his kids. 

Flashback to 1997, when Boomer Esiason returned to Cincinnati after stops in New York with the Jets and in Arizona.  Esiason took over for Blake-mania, and went 4-1 as a starter with a 13/2 TD to INT ratio.  The Bengals finished 7-9 after a 1-7 start, and Boomer was ready to comeback for at least one more season (if the price was right).  Mike Brown, however, didn't offer Boomer a contract, instead wanting him to the take the opportunity that ABC was affording him to become the new guy in the booth for Monday Night Football.  Brown felt that this was a great way for Boomer to start his career into broadcasting, and being on MNF was too much to pass up.  Or maybe he didn't want to actually pay him...with Jeff Blake already under contract.  Or maybe it was a little of both.  (To be fair, Brown has always paid quarterbacks, so I think it was a genuine feeling that the MNF shot was too good for Boomer to pass up, along with the fact that he was going to draft a QB in 1998 or 1999 to be the centerpiece of Paul Brown Stadium when it opened in 2000).

Regardless, Boomer did head for a forgettable run in the Monday Night Football booth with Al Michaels, and the Bengals floundered for another five seasons until Marvin Lewis's arrival in 2003.

Here's the bottom line...

Mike Zimmer's stock will never be higher in his career.  To make the Cincinnati Bengals defense the toughest in the AFC North, a divisionwith Baltimore and Pittsburgh, was next to impossible.  This defense couldn't find tough with a handful of barbed wire.  Teams will be backing the Brinks truck up at PBS, there's no doubt in my mind.

However, this situation is very reminiscent of Boomer Esiason in 1997.  Will Mike Brown ignore the obvious 2012-type impact Mike Zimmer has had on this franchise in order let him become a head coach elsewhere because that's the nice thing to do?  Or will Marvin Lewis have enough juice to convince Brown to open up the checkbook and keep Zimmer here in Cincinnati?

Another item to remember was the organization's kindness during for Vikki Zimmer's funeral, flying family members in town and making all the arrangements.  Not saying that would keep Zimmer here for sure, but for a guy like Zimmer, it seems like loyalty goes a long way. 

Mike Brown, the ball is in your court.  Making an offer now and locking up Zimmer for another three seasons would eliminate all speculation going into the offseason, and it would ensure a real presence on the defensive side of the ball.  Don't let your heart get in the way of winning football in Cincinnati.

Comments

[tigeralum]

This organization has stated time and time again if a coach has a chance at a promotion elsewhere...they will let them go and at least explore his options.
Happens in Baltimore and Pittsburgh all the time..

Better get used to it if we continue to be successful.

[Leo deTrotskyo]

Years ago I had a discussion about the futility of the team, and how to measure it. W/L record is easy. There's always lack of national recognition through primetime games or Pro Bowl appearances. Then there is the lack of coords getting courted (much less hired) as HCs, and the lack of position coaches getting courted as Coords. Tigeralum is right: it goes with the territory.

I may be wrong, but I think it may be league (not team) policy to void a contract if a promotion elsewhere is offered. How else are all the Belicheck ex-assistants now HCs?

[Sly Vramavomovich]

But sometimes the smart coordinators know their own limitations as well as the limitations of being a head coach. Most HC's don't call plays on either side of the ball. Does Zimmer want to have to stand there while someone else has his team's defense in their hands. And if you can't tell I'll come up with any reasonable theory, however crazy, on why Zimmer should stay and argue it as hard as possible.

[Mike]

I think Leo's right. It wouldn't matter if Mike Brown signed Zimmer to a 10 year contract, if he has a chance to be a head coach he'll go.

[Wyatt]

If I understand the policy correctly, a coach/front office person isn't able to get out of their contract to go and do the same thing for another organization, but they can if it is clearly a promotion. The most recent example I can think of the difference between the former and the latter would be Jon Gruden and the trade from Oakland to Tampa Bay (lateral move - thus, a trade had to be facilitated), as opposed to George Kokinus, who was only able to leave his position in Baltimore to be the Browns' GM if he was given control of player personnel and day-to-day football operations (which proved to be untrue, but I digress).

But yeah, I would hope that Mikey Boy can lock Zimmer up and that Zimmer is happy to be a DC, likely followed with being a Head Coach-in-waiting (assuming the dream scenario works out where Marvin becomes GM and Zim becomes the HC). Even if Mikey Boy wants to keep paying himself the GM bonus, at least make Marvin the Head of Player Personnel and let him handle scouting and drafting and work with Katie on contracts.

[SM]

All they can do is offer him a contract and see if he'll stay. There's no question he will be interviewed for HC jobs league-wide, if not in the college ranks as well. My HOPE is that he's grown so attached to this team that he wants to give it one or two more years.

My DREAM is that we win the Super Bowl this year, finish #1 in D, and Zim decides to come back and try to repeat. This guy is probably the best coach we've had here since Bill Walsh was our OC in the 1970's--and what happened to him? He got a HC job with...drumroll...the 49ers, for you kids out there. And they beat us, twice, in the Super Bowl. Oh the irony.

BTW, Wyatt, I LOVE your idea. Put Marvin in the Ozzie Smith roll and let Zim take over as HC. Brilliant.

[benji esq]

i hear what your saying, but the last thing i want is for zimmer to enter into contract negotiations during the season. the man is already having to deal with the hardest a guy could have to deal with, and gameplan for the nfl. there will be teams coming, but lets finish the season first. then lock him up as best we can

[mo]

Wyatt a Position coach needs permission to leave to become a coordinator,Tampa is quite famous for not allowing their position coaches to look for coordinator jobs...With that being said we need make Zimmer the Highest payed Coordinator and reward him for his work...then if he wants to be HC so be it but he may not want the extra duties because coordinator alrdy takes alot of time and he wanted more to spend with his family...but at the same time I remember reading that he felt he deserved a HC chance after Dallas but never got it so maybe he takes the chance because its what vikki & his family would probably want...

[FeedMikeBrownToAquaBengal]

Bengals brought in Joey Galloway and Doss today. I hope they're spending some time game-planning for the Raiders, because you cannot take lightly a west coast trip (especially this franchise which has a bad record on the west coast)

[SM]

Aqua, no doubt. We have never--I repeat, NEVER--won in Oakland! How incredible is that? We need to jump on them early, go up 21-0 in the 1st Quarter, and let our RBs have at their crappy run D. I bet we throw at least 10 balls to Chad to help him get his mojo back. Might be tough, however, with Asamough at DB. Dude is good.

Looking forward to a dominant 48-7 game, but I hope our players don't come out flat these next three weeks.

[FeedMikeBrownToAquaBengal]

Bengals are 0-9 in Oakland, and were 1-4 in Los Angeles, against the Raiders.
The Bengals have never won in the Meadowlands (0-10) and never in Minnesota (0-4) and are only 5-9 in San Diego. So you're talking about having four road games left in places where the Bengals have a grant total record of 5-32 (0.135 winning percentage). Those are pretty astounding numbers!

To win the division this year the Bengals literally have to turn history on its head.

[Wyatt]

Okay, guys, while we're drudging up unimportant stats, the Bengals had never won 5 consecutive road games in franchise history until Sunday, they had a 2-10 record in Pittsburgh in their last dozen games there and a 0-8 record against Pittsburgh in Cincinnati in their last 8 home games against the Steelers, and they'd never been 5-0 in the AFC Central or AFC North at any point in franchise history, not even the two Super Bowl seasons.

I can understand your trepidation regarding putting any faith in a team run by Mike Brown; however, this isn't the year to bring up old stats, just like I was forced to tell Steelers fans repeatedly in the week leading up to this last game. Sure, they are the defending SB champions; however, that was last season, and doesn't play a factor on the outcome of this season's games. Granted, we've got this huge historical precedent that tells us the Bengals aren't going to win any of those games, but this season has more or less turned historical precedence on its ear, wouldn't you think?

I honestly hate myself for being this optimistic, but the only game I'm worried about down the stretch is the Vikings game. Provided Hall and Joseph stay healthy, I think they've got a good shot at shutting down V-Jax and Floyd just like they have so many other receivers this season. My biggest worry for the Chargers game is actually Gates, just because of how successful the Schaub to Daniels plays were against the Bengals in the Texans game. As for the Raiders and Jets, have you seen either one of those teams lately? Oakland's starting a new QB this week, and he's going to see a lot of pressure from the d-line, so I think the streak of backup QBs beating the Bengals gets buried this weekend (it died when the Bengals beat Derek Anderson and the Ghost of 2007 Past back in October). And the Jets? Sanchez is more likely to throw to Hall and/or Joseph than his own receivers, so even if the Jets' D remains solid (which it should), our D can probably put us in good enough field position and/or score enough points to win the game. Also, don't forget that Carson's had tremendous success against Rex Ryan defenses, and, like I said, it's a 40-year-old man and workhorse running back that have me scared. Of course, the Steelers did beat the Vikes and the Bengals beat the Steelers (twice), so by (admittedly flawed) football math, they should beat the Vikings.

[Wyatt]

Oh, and just for the record, that wasn't my idea. I actually stole it from someone in the "Future" thread. They actually suggested ML as GM, but I doubt MBB would give up the GM bonus, so the Head of Player Personnel idea came to me.

[Matt]

I think one thing to keep in mind regarding assistant coaches is the possible labor strike in 2011. It will be interesting to see how many teams want to extend assistant coaches past 2010 and have to pay them if for some reason a season or at least part of season were to be canceled. They might sign at least the coordinators but the other assistants might be in for a rude awakening.

[coach outlet]

Such a fun idea.*

[supra shoes]

A burnt child dreads the fire.

[Aleksej20Efremov]

тут аренда микроавтобуса по приемлемой цене