Breaking – Cowboys has appointed Mike Zimmer as their new head coach to replace Mike McCarthy

Why Mike Zimmer is back in his element as the Cowboys’ DC

FRISCO, Texas — It was only a rookie minicamp in early May without any pads or even any full-team drills, but Mike Zimmer could not help but smile.

After two years away from the game, he was in his element again, on a field coaching football early in his second stint as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator.

“This last couple weeks when we go out here and we’re doing the (Phase 2 of the offseason program) stuff, it’s been a lot of fun to get out with the players and start to understand them and try to teach them as much as I can about not just the position but the other positions and why we do certain things,” Zimmer said. “I think that’s been the best part.”

If not the exact same location, Zimmer is back in a familiar setting. The Cowboys relocated to The Star, where they have been based since 2016, from Valley Ranch, where Zimmer served as a Cowboys assistant from 1994 to 2006. The Jones family and other front desk and personnel employees are among the faces that haven’t changed.

After eight years as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, he has been around the game for the last two years. He co-hosts a podcast for The 33rd Team website with former defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, Marvin Lewis, with whom he worked from 2008 to 2013.

They would be given topics to discuss and each would do his own prep work and just talk ball, as coaches like to do. They studied trends in the game, such as teams matching up against bigger personnel groups with five defensive backs versus staying with a base defense against three wide receiver sets.