Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is opening up about his son Adam’s unexpected death in October 2022.
Mike and Adam were months removed from being fired from the Minnesota Vikings at the time. Mike served as head coach in Minnesota from 2014 to 2021, while Adam started as linebackers coach before being promoted to defensive coordinator.
“He loved football so much and he was telling me his career was ruined because he got fired,” Zimmer said in an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune published Tuesday, September 3. “It tore him up. I told him everybody gets fired in this job, but it was hard on him.”
Adam was working remotely from Minnesota as an assistant for the Cincinnati Bengals at the time of his death.
Police found him dead in his apartment on October 31, 2022, while serving a welfare check request. An autopsy revealed “chronic ethanol use disorder,” or excessive drinking, as the cause of his death. He was 38.
The father-son coaching duo stayed close in the months leading up to Adam’s death. Mike admitted that there are still moments — like when a picture of Adam pops up on his phone — that can be devastating.
“Every Sunday, that first year until Adam passed, we went and played golf together at Triple Crown Country Club in Union, Kentucky, right by the ranch,” he said. “He called me a couple days before he passed and said he was coming back to the ranch on Monday. He said, ‘I got one more thing to do.’ He never made it back.”
Mike added that time passing and getting back to coaching have both helped him cope with his loss. He did not coach in 2022 or 2023 as he processed what happened. He also didn’t want to take a defensive coordinator job as it would signal a step back in his career. Mike changed his tune when the Cowboys came calling, however, and now, he confessed, he’s “having fun again.”
This is his second stint with the Cowboys, having served as a defensive coach from 1994 to 2006.
“The shame is Adam would have loved being here helping us put this defense together in Dallas,” he said. “[Long-time confidante] Paul Guenther is here with me. I kept thinking, ‘Man, I wish Adam was here with us.’ He was so smart. When I can’t remember something or get stuck, Adam could tell me exactly what I was thinking.”
He added, “So, it’s been tough. But it helps getting around the players again. We joke around. I tease them, they tease me. Like the old days.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).