MINNEAPOLIS -- The working theory around the Minnesota Vikings' coaching search has been that general manager Rick Spielman would bring two or three finalists back to Minnesota to meet with ownership after an initial round of interviews, which ostensibly concluded when Spielman talked to San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman on Saturday.
As ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported on Sunday morning, Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer will come to Minnesota early this week for a second interview. The Vikings talked to Zimmer last Wednesday in Cincinnati, and the chatter after that interview had been that Zimmer was one of the Vikings' top candidates. Now, he appears to be their first finalist.
We can glean a couple things from that. First, the Vikings seem to be done with their initial round of interviews, though I suppose it's always possible for them to change their timeline if Denver were to lose in time for Spielman to talk with offensive coordinator Adam Gase or defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. But Spielman had pegged his timetable to the Senior Bowl, so if the Vikings want to have a coach in place by then, it would seem likely they'd get their list of finalists together this week.
And second, if the Vikings are indeed done with their preliminary interviews, it seems like their search has been a little narrower than we expected. They've talked to six offensive or defensive coordinators, and also were believed to visit with 49ers defensive line coach Jim Tomsula on Saturday. As we discussed yesterday, the coordinator pool has been fraught with risks over the years, to the point where Texans owner Bob McNair wanted to stay away from one. There's a big leap from game planning for one side of the ball to running the whole operation, reading the mood of a team, dealing with the media more frequently and so on. Some former coordinators have been able to handle it, like Green Bay's Mike McCarthy or New Orleans' Sean Payton. Others haven't, and the Vikings' last two fired coaches (Brad Childress and Leslie Frazier) are former coordinators.
Time will tell if Zimmer, or one of the other coordinators the Vikings have interviewed, will be able to make the jump successfully, but the Vikings' search does seem to be moving forward.