Michael Zimmer (born June 5, 1956) is an American football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes. Prior to this, Zimmer was with Jackson State, both college programs being led by Deion Sanders. He previously also served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 2014 to 2021. Prior to joining the Vikings, Zimmer served as a defensive assistant for the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, and Cincinnati Bengals from 1994–2013. Zimmer also won Super Bowl XXX with the Dallas Cowboys in 1996. Playing career 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 in Lockport, Illinois. He enrolled at Illinois State University, majoring in physical education. He played quarterback in 1974, but he redshirted the following year and moved to linebacker in 1976 after breaking his thumb. A neck injury prematurely ended his playing career that same year. His college teammates were positively influenced by his constantly "up" attitude, especially during hot August pre-season double workouts. He backed up quarterback Bob Lopez in 1974, who later went on to set many of Illinois State's passing records. Coaching career College Zimmer's first coaching job was as a part-time defensive assistant at the University of Missouri from 1979–1980. He then coached at Weber State College from 1981–1988, serving as the inside linebackers coach from 1981–84, the defensive backs coach from 1985–88, and the defensive coordinator from 1983–88. From 1989–1993, Zimmer served as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Washington State Cougars. In 1993, the Cougars defense ranked eighth in the nation in total defense and second in rushing defense. National Football League Dallas Cowboys 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 in 1995 and served in that capacity before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2000. The 2003 Dallas Cowboys defense gave up the fewest yards in the NFL while running an aggressive, speedy 4-3 defense. Despite the Cowboys' problems over the years, Zimmer survived several coaching changes (Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Bill Parcells) and was rumored to have been a candidate for the head coaching job at the University of Nebraska (circa 2003). In 2005, he implemented the 3-4 defense favored by head coach Bill Parcells, although Zimmer had