Nearly 30 years ago, Darren Woodson was coming off his first Pro Bowl selection and was on his way to winning two Super Bowl rings. In three seasons, he was already considered one of the best safeties in the NFL.
Then, Mike Zimmer was named the new secondary coach for the 1995 season, and he soon asked Woodson to visit his new office.
“He sat me down, pulled out the tape and went over every bad play I made from the previous year,” Woodson recalled. “It was terrible. I thought I was a pretty good player here, but he wanted me to redo everything that didn't work the year before. I hated it. I couldn't sleep for four or five days. ” But it made me better. ”
Woodson continued to improve, appearing in four consecutive Pro Bowls and eventually becoming the Cowboys' all-time leading tackler.
Last week, Woodson learned he was once again not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, despite being a finalist. But at least he found some good news in rehiring Zimmer as defensive coordinator in Dallas.
Zimmer served as the Cowboys' secondary coach until 1999, then as their defensive coordinator for seven seasons (2000-2006). He went from Dallas to Atlanta and Cincinnati as a DC and was the head coach of the Vikings for nine years, where he experienced multiple divisional games against Mike McCarthy and the Packers.
Zimmer will now join McCarthy's staff, but Woodson says there's one thing he's sure to bring.
“It's toughness. It's definitely toughness and it's a shock to the system,” Woodson said. “He's going to do it in such a way that you have to be tough and come into practice with a tough mindset. He's going to challenge you. He's going to be their friend. No. He's going to put you in a position.'' You probably won't like him, but you can respect him. ”
Zimmer's no-nonsense personality is well-represented in his coaching style, evident in his aggressive play-calling and series of blitz packages. But while Zimmer coached a 4-3 defense for most of his career, he also has versatility in his scheme, having served as a DC under coach Bill Parcells and also ran a 3-4 defense. .
“He's a really great coach. He shows up and puts in the time. You can see he's putting in the effort,” Woodson said. “He believes in his system. He firmly believes in what he does. There's no backup, dude. He's not playing as a heel. There's nothing soft here. He’s going to come in and bring toughness to the team.”
And Woodson said from afar that's what the Cowboys need right now. He was the defensive coordinator for the past three years before new head coach Dan Quinn came to Washington.
The Cowboys weren't completely lacking in talent on either side of the ball, but they had three Pro Bowlers on defense in Micah Parsons, Daron Brand, and DeMarcus Lawrence. Both Parsons and Brand were finalists for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. And the Cowboys will have two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs back from a knee injury this season.
But Woodson said that despite being a playmaker, Zimmer will definitely bring a much-needed mindset to the team.
“One thing about this team right now…I'm not going to doubt their toughness, but he's going to come in as an outside voice to challenge them,” Zimmer said. “You don't grow if you do the same thing over and over again. You grow when you have to go through something. I'm very comfortable with this team. But I think Jim is going to change that a lot, especially with this team. Now” defense. “
