Minnesota Vikings

StaTuesday: Zimmer’s rank among Vikings head coaches

Published Dec. 19, 2017 3:58 p.m. ET

Tom Dierberger

With the Minnesota Vikings’ 34-7 win over Cincinnati last week, Mike Zimmer clinched his second divisional title since he was hired in 2014.

His ongoing four-year stint already ranks high in Vikings history.

There have been nine coaches to lead Minnesota since the franchise’s inaugural season in 1961. It should be no surprise that Hall of Famer Bud Grant tops the franchise in victories, winning percentage, divisional titles and playoff appearances -- and, of course, boasts all four of the Vikings’ Super Bowl trips on his resume.

So Zimmer has a long ways to go to match Grant, but the 61-year-old, who coached 14 years in the NFL as an assistant before getting his first crack at the head position with the Vikings, is on the right track.

Zimmer currently ranks fifth all-time in Vikings history in total victories but third in winning percentage. He’s also just the fourth head coach to earn multiple division titles and the fifth to reach the postseason more than once.

ALL-TIME VIKINGS COACHING RECORDS

Years	Coach	W	L	T	%	Division titles	Playoff appearances
1967-83, 1985	Bud Grant	158	96	5	.621	11	12
1992-01	Dennis Green	97	62	0	.610	4	8
2014-Present	Mike Zimmer	37	25	0	.597	2	2
1986-91	Jerry Burns	52	43	0	.547	1	3
2006-10	Brad Childress	39	35	0	.527	2	2
2001-05	Mike Tice	32	33	0	.492	0	1
2010-13	Leslie Frazier	21	32	1	.398	0	1
1961-66	Norm Van Brocklin	29	51	4	.363	0	0
1984	Les Steckel	3	13	0	.188	0	0

But where does Zimmer rank in terms of Vikings coaches in their first four years on the sideline?

If the Vikings win their final pair of games this year, Zimmer would own the most victories through four regular seasons in franchise history – at 39 – and the second-best winning percentage (.609) behind Grant.

Also, Zimmer joined Grant, Brad Childress and Dennis Green as the four Vikings coaches to lead their teams to multiple division titles in their first four years at the helm.

A couple of things to keep in mind when looking at this next chart:

-- The NFL was two conferences -- NFL East and NFL West -- in the Vikings’ first six years as a franchise. It split into a divisional format in 1967, Bud Grant’s first year at the helm. Also, the NFL and AFL had separate schedules through the 1969 season, so the Vikings didn't play a cross-conference game until 1970. No worries in this chart, though -- Minnesota never finished higher than second in the NFL West under Norm Van Brocklin.

-- The 14-game regular-season format was ditched after 1977 for the current 16-game schedule.

-- Les Steckel is not on this list because, well, he only lasted one season.

VIKINGS COACHES THROUGH FIRST FOUR REGULAR SEASONS

Years	Coach	W	L	T	%	Division titles	Playoff appearances
1967-70	Bud Grant	35	18	3	.652	3	3
1986-89	Jerry Burns*	38	25	0	.603	1	3
2014-17	Mike Zimmer**	37	25	0	.597	2	2
1992-95	Dennis Green	38	26	0	.594	2	3
2006-09	Brad Childress	36	28	0	.563	2	2
2002-05	Mike Tice***	32	32	0	.500	0	1
2010-13	Leslie Frazier^*	21	32	1	.398	0	1
1961-64	Norm Van Brocklin	18	35	3	.348	0	0

* 1987 strike caused cancellation of Sept. 27 game against the Chiefs

** Two games to play in ongoing regular season

*** Coached the final game of 2001 season, so we went with Tice's first four full seasons at the helm

^* Includes the six games in 2010 he led as interim head coach after Childress was fired