Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells has one of the largest coaching trees in NFL history, with Mike Zimmer being one of the more notable names in said coaching tree.
The final stop of Parcells' legendary career came as coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 2003-2006, where Zimmer was his defensive coordinator the entire time. The two men didn't know each other when Parcells came to Dallas, but soon enough, they became close friends who still talk to this day.
When Parcells heard the news of Zimmer re-joining the Cowboys as their defensive coordinator, he was eager to praise his former pupil.
"He's a coach's son, and I always liked that because they lived it at the dinner table when they were young," Parcells told ESPN. "[Bill] Belichick was the same way. That's the kind of guys they were. But I got to like Mike and we've become good friends."
Any comparison to Bill Belichick, another proud member of Parcells' coaching tree, is a good one, and clearly, Zimmer has earned said comparison in Parcells' eyes.
Parcells was also instrumental in Zimmer's growth as a coach. Zimmer favored a 4-3 defense, which he ran to great effect in 2003 as the Cowboys had the league's best total defense. On the other hand, Parcells preferred a 3-4 scheme, and once the Cowboys drafted Hall of Fame linebacker DeMarcus Ware in 2005, he was able to convince Zimmer to switch schemes.
"Technique-wise it was relatively simple, so it was just the linebacker play and how to coordinate that, and that involved some new stuff for him," Parcells said. "But he caught on to that easily, and he started to understand what kind of personnel we were looking for in that. That wasn't hard. He's a football guy. He likes the game. He's committed to doing a good job. He's not lazy at all. That's good."
Zimmer primarily ran a 4-3 defense later in his coaching career, but made sure to work in some traits of Parcells' 3-4.
Above all, though, Parcells appreciates Zimmer's blunt honesty with those around him, which players tend to latch on to as well.
"He's himself," Parcells said. "That's what he does. That's what people that get along with players are. They don't say you have to get along, but players respect people who are straight-forward, to the point and trying to help them get better. He's the best with them. And the ones that don't like the truth are probably going to have a problem."
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