Adam Zimmer, the son of former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and an assistant coach in the NFL, passed away at the age of 38, according to a post on Instagram by his sister Corri.
This season, Zimmer became an offensive analyst with the Bengals. He previously served as the Vikings’ co-defensive coordinator under his father’s leadership.
“It’s unbelievable that I’m writing this. My older brother passed away yesterday. According to Corri Zimmer’s Instagram post, the sweetest, kindest, family-oriented, sports-obsessed person there has ever been.
It hurts so much and my heart is broken. I don’t know how to balance my grief from losing my brother so suddenly with being a mother to 1-year-old twin boys. I felt so heartbroken, lost, and overpowered.
The cause of death wasn’t known right away.
Before being hired as the Vikings’ head coach, Mike Zimmer served as the Bengals’ defensive coordinator from 2008 to 2013. After eight seasons, Minnesota fired him after the most recent season. Vikki, his wife of 50 years, passed away in 2009.
“For fifteen years, the Zimmer family has been a delight to know and work with our organization. The president of the Bengals, Mike Brown, issued a statement saying, “We have the utmost respect for Mike and Adam, and we are deeply saddened by this awful news.
The owners of the Vikings released a statement saying, “We are heartbroken to hear about the passing of Adam Zimmer. “Adam was a good-natured, courteous person, and it became clear over the course of his time in Minnesota how much he cared about his family, his players, his colleague’s coaches, and the Vikings front office personnel. Mike, Corri, Marki, and the Zimmer family are in our prayers.
In a statement, former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said, “My thoughts and prayers are with Coach Zimmer and his family. Adam was a fantastic coach and human being. He’ll be genuinely missed.
On social media, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins expressed his “deep sadness” over the news and praised Adam Zimmer as a “tremendous coach & guy.”