It’s time for a Vikings coaching change

We had a brown Christmas this year. It’s a bit ironic in that Southeast Minnesota had up to 12-inches of snowfall earlier in the month, but it was gone by Christmas.

However, the region has had a “White Christmas” 68 times out of 87 since 1933 or 78 percent of the time. The last brown Christmas was in 2011.

With the threat of snow on Sunday, Dec. 26, Tricia and I decided to leave Blaine, where our oldest daughter, Carrie and her family live. We set out around 10 a.m., hoping to beat the forecasted snow. It was smooth sailing. We made the trip in an hour and 45 minutes.

Around 6 p.m., after watching the Los Angeles Rams beat our Vikings like a drum, I decided to call Carrie just to let her know that we had made it home without a trace of snow.

Instead of just stating that we were home safely, I decided to embellish it a bit.

Sounding a bit exhausted, I told Carrie, “We finally made it home. The roads were terrible and traffic was bumper-to-bumper.”

She bit. “Really? Are you guys okay?”

That’s when I gave it away and started chuckling.

“Oh, Dad!”

It was the only solace I found after the Vikings loss and virtually nixing their chance at the playoffs.

I don’t know if anyone else is concerned about the future of our Vikings, but I believe it’s time for a coaching change. Mike Zimmer has tried and failed to make a legacy team out of the former “Purple People Eaters.” Rather, they are, at best, an also ran team made up of a few stellar player and the rest don’t seem to have a hoot of difference about winning.

We have a good quarterback, a great young wide receiver and some talented tight ends (when they’re healthy).

Zimmer has claimed to be a defensive wizard. But his Vikings’ “run defense is still strangely bad. Zimmer’s defense ranks 28th league wide for rushing yards allowed. They’re also penalized too much. The Vikings are ranked 27th in defensive penalty yards. And, the Vikings defense surrenders far too many first downs (they rank 25th in this metric),” according to Dustin Baker of the Vikings Territory.

The point is that it’s time for a change on the sidelines. He’s the team’s ninth head coach and was selected on Jan. 15, 2014 to lead the Vikes. His best season was in 2017 when he led the Vikings to a record of 13-3. This season appears to be a sub-.500 season.

Those fans who might still be around recall the Bud Grant years and his four runs at the Lombardi Trophy.

Every season for the last seven years, like every other Minnesotan I pondered the thought that this was going to be the year the Vikings had the team and coaching staff to win the Super Bowl. Each of those seven years most Vikings fans have been disappointed.

It’s time for every Vikings fan to speak up and demand that Zygi hire a new coaching staff that can lead the new Purple People Eaters to a shot at the big game!

FOOTBALL

Your TALENT determines what you can do. Your MOTIVATION determines how much you are willing to do. Your ATTITUDE determines how well you do it.”

Lou Holtz