The Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals open their NFL preseason slate with a game tonight in Ohio. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer returns to Cincinnati, where he made his reputation as a defensive coordinator before being hired in Minnesota in 2014. Last season, Zimmer led the Vikings to the NFC North title.
”It brings back a lot of good memories,” Zimmer says. ”We had a good run. Mike Brown was really good to me and, obviously, Marvin (Lewis) and a lot of the players that I coached. It’ll be fun. It’ll be fun to bring my team in here, trying to compete with them.”
Zimmer notes how working for the Bengals prepared him for head coaching.
”I think (in) a lot of different ways,” he says. ”I got a chance to see how Marvin does things, how he treats people, the way he earns respect. When I left Atlanta – I was there for three-quarters of a year or whatever – but, coming (to Cincinnati) and being able to resurrect my career a little bit. I think that helped a lot, (plus) being able to get some good players in here.”