Adam Zimmer (January 13, 1984 – October 31, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was an assistant

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

s coach and offensive analyst for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, assistant linebackers coach for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, and linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. Zimmer was the son of former Vikings head coach

Mike Zimmer Michael Zimmer (born June 5, 1956) is an American football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes football, Colorado Buffaloes. Prior to this, Zimmer was with Jackson State Tigers football, Jackson State, both college programs being led by Deion Sande ...

Early years

Born in

Ogden, Utah Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...

, on January 13, 1984 Zimmer grew up in

Colleyville, Texas Colleyville is a city in northeastern Tarrant County, Texas, United States, centrally located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. A wealthy suburb of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Colleyville was originally a small farm town in the 19th century. Th ...

, and attended Heritage High School while his father

was a defensive coach for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. His grandfather Bill Zimmer coached football at

Lockport Township High School Lockport Township High School (LTHS) is a public high school in Lockport, Illinois, United States. In addition to the city of Lockport and Lockport Township, Lockport Township High School also serves the communities of Homer Glen, most of Crest H ...

for 35 years. By age 10, Zimmer knew that he wanted to follow his father's and grandfather's careers and become a football coach.

Playing career

Zimmer played for the Trinity University Tigers football team as a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

from 2002 to 2005, where he wore #28.

Coaching career

New Orleans Saints

Zimmer landed his first coaching job with the

as an assistant linebackers' coach in 2006. During his first season in the NFL, the Saints won the NFC South Division Title and made it to the NFC Championship game. In the 2009 season, Zimmer's final season in New Orleans, the Saints went on to win

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

Kansas City Chiefs

Zimmer became the Chiefs' assistant linebackers coach in the 2010 season. In his first season, he helped the Chiefs allow 46.2 fewer rushing yards per game compared to the year before. In the 2011 season, linebackers

Tamba Hali Tamba Boimah Hali (born 3 November 1983) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), where he earned All-American honors, and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fi ...

and

Derrick Johnson Derrick O’Hara Johnson (born November 22, 1982) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned consensus All-American honors twice. He was drafted by the Kansas City ...

were selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

. During the 2012 season, linebacker

Jovan Belcher Jovan Henry Allen Belcher (July 24, 1987 – December 1, 2012) was an American football linebacker who played his entire career with the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He grew up in West Babylon, New York and was a sta ...

fatally shot his girlfriend, then drove to the Chiefs' facility where he committed suicide in front of head coach

Romeo Crennel Romeo Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is a former American football coach, who was the senior advisor for football performance for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, Cre ...

. Zimmer was strongly affected by this, especially after he had recently lost his mother to natural causes in 2009. Zimmer was let go when Kansas City fired Crennel after the 2012 season.

Cincinnati Bengals

For the 2013 season, Zimmer joined the Bengals alongside his father

as an assistant defensive backs coach while his dad was the defensive coordinator.

Minnesota Vikings

When Mike Zimmer became the 9th head coach of the

for the 2014 season, Adam Zimmer was brought in to be the linebackers' coach. The Vikings won the

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and tough ri ...

Division Title in the 2015 season, allowing 18.9 points per game on defense, ranked 5th-best in the NFL. Linebacker Anthony Barr was selected to the

2016 Pro Bowl The 2016 Pro Bowl (branded as the 2016 Pro Bowl presented by USAA for sponsorship reasons) was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2015 season, which was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 31, 2016. As of 20 ...

as a replacement for Jamie Collins. On January 27, 2020, Zimmer and defensive line coach Andre Patterson were named co-defensive coordinators for the 2020 season. Both Zimmers along with the majority of the coaching staff were fired following the conclusion of the 2021 season.

Return to Bengals

Following his firing by the Vikings, Zimmer was hired by the Bengals as an offensive analyst.

Death

Zimmer died on October 31, 2022, at age 38, in

Mendota Heights, Minnesota Mendota Heights is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is a first ring southern suburb of the Twin Cities. The population was 11,744 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a tot ...

. Mendota Heights police responded to a welfare check request at his home at 1:13 pm CDT, and found Zimmer dead inside. His death was not believed to be suspicious. His cause of death was not initially known but an autopsy was scheduled. On December 16, 2022, The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office announced that Zimmer's cause of death was complications of chronic ethanol use disorder. The disorder can be caused by excessive drinking or by having withdrawal symptoms while drastically cutting back or completely stopping drinking.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmer, Adam 1984 births 2022 deaths American people of German descent Cincinnati Bengals coaches Colleyville Heritage High School alumni Kansas City Chiefs coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches National Football League defensive coordinators New Orleans Saints coaches People from Colleyville, Texas Players of American football from Texas Players of American football from Utah Trinity Tigers football players Trinity University (Texas) alumni Sportspeople from Ogden, Utah