Former Minnesota co-defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer, an NFL assistant for 17 years and the son of previous Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, has died at the age of 38. Corri Zimmer White, his younger sister, confirmed the death on her Instagram account on Tuesday. Adam Zimmer died on Monday, she said. No cause was cited.
Adam Zimmer was working remotely this season as an offensive analyst for the Cincinnati Bengals, after eight years with the Vikings under his father. When Mike Zimmer was fired in January, the majority of his staff was also dismissed. Mendota Heights Police Capt. Wayne Wegener confirmed that officers found a deceased man after responding to a welfare check on Monday afternoon, at a home near Vikings headquarters where Adam Zimmer was living. There was nothing suspicious about the death, Wegener said, and the investigation was turned over to the medical examiner for determination of cause.
Adam Zimmer broke into the NFL in 2006 with the New Orleans Saints. He was hired by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2010 as an assistant linebackers coach and spent the 2013 season with the Bengals as an assistant defensive backs coach in Mike Zimmer’s final season there as defensive coordinator. Mike Zimmer’s wife, Adam Zimmer’s mother, Vikki Zimmer, died unexpectedly at age 50 in 2009. That was Adam Zimmer’s last year with the Saints, when they went on to win the Super Bowl.
