[h=2]Playing career[/h] In high school, Zimmer was a successful multi-sport athlete who earned all-conference honors in football (1972–73), baseball, and wrestling at
Lockport Township High School. He enrolled at
Illinois State University with a major in
physical education and played as a quarterback (1974) before being redshirted (1975) and moved to linebacker after suffering a broken thumb (1976). A neck injury ended his football career that year.
[h=2]Coaching career[/h] His first coaching job was as a part-time defensive assistant at the
University of Missouri (1979–80). He then went to
Weber State College, where he was the inside linebackers coach (1981–84), defensive backs coach (1985–88), and defensive coordinator (1983–88). He then went to
Washington State University (1989–93) as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach. In 1993, the Cougars finished eighth in the nation in total defense and second in rushing defense.
He joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1994 as an assistant coach of the nickel defense under
Barry Switzer. He was promoted to defensive backs coach (1995–99) before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2000. The 2003 Dallas Cowboys gave up the fewest yards in the NFL while running an aggressive speedy 4-3 defense. Despite the Cowboys' problems over the years, Zimmer has survived coaching changes (Switzer,
Chan Gailey,
Dave Campo,
Bill Parcells) and rumored to have been a candidate for the head coaching job at the
University of Nebraska (2003). For the 2005 season, he implemented the 3-4 defense favored by head coach Parcells, although Zimmer had no prior experience with it.
When
Bobby Petrino was hired to coach the
Atlanta Falcons early in
2007 NFL Season, Mike Zimmer agreed to become the new defensive coordinator in Atlanta.
On January 15, 2008 Mike became the Defensive Coordinator for the
Cincinnati Bengals.
His wife, Vikki, died at their home on October 8, 2009. Three days later Zimmer was awarded the game ball by head coach Marvin Lewis after the team's 17-14 victory over the
Baltimore Ravens.
