Bengals coach Mike Zimmer presses on with heavy heart-Enquirer

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[b][size="5"]Zimmer's 'tough love' paying off[/size][/b]
By [url="http://cnati.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1&id=2"]C. Trent Rosecrans[/url], CNATI.com
Posted November 9, 2009 6:54 PM ET



Sitting in the back row of the team meeting room, Domata Peko kept his head down, just hoping somehow defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer wouldn't notice him, go hoarse or something.

Coming out of the bye week with a 5-2 record and on the heels of a dominating performance over the Bears, the Bengals felt pretty good about themselves. Their defensive coordinator wasn't going to let them feel like they'd accomplished much of anything.

From the first guy in the front row, to the last man in the back - which just happened to be Peko - Zimmer let everyone know just exactly what they needed to work on to be a better player. No player was immune; every single one got their moment under the heat lamp that the Bengals' second-year defensive coordinator.

"He went to each person and told us our weaknesses and what they had to do better," Peko said. "He was pretty tough. He was being blunt, that's the type of coach I like, someone who will tell you if you're doing anything wrong, he'll tell you straight up. From the oldest guy on the team to the youngest."

Defensive end Robert Geathers Jr. said it was the first time he'd experienced something like that.

"He told us how we could be better, it wasn't just one or two guys, he went down the line in front of the whole defense," said Geathers. "I've never had that happen. That was different, but there's no secrets in that room, we're one, we're a unit and we play as a unit."

Safety Chinedum Ndukwe noted that not everything Zimmer said in that meeting was negative, he had several positive things to note to players. But what stuck out in Ndukwe's mind about his personal critique was that he needed to be better in his footwork.

"He's straight-forward and blunt, that's what makes him a great coach and makes people respect him," Ndukwe said. "He's honest and keeps you on track. It's never as good as it seems or never as bad as it seems."

On the practice field and in the meeting rooms, Zimmer can be very short and abrasive and for the most part, it's a good thing Hard Knocks was on HBO or else viewers may not know what his voice sounded like.

"He told us the reason he's so hard on us during the week is so you don't have to worry about it twice, just play ball," Peko said. "He says you don't have to worry about getting yelled at, he does all his yelling during the week."

Tank Johnson was on the receiving end of a displeased Zimmer on Sunday, but he said he understands that's part of Zimmer's motivational tactics and that he respects that his coach is as intense as any player.

The Bengals defense is currently ranked second in the NFL against the run and 14th in total defense. On Sunday, they held Baltimore - which came into the game ranked seventh in total offense and fourth in points - scoreless and to less than 100 yards in the first three quarters. In the fourth, the Bengals gave up a touchdown and more than 100 yards, although the biggest play of the game was on the last play, a 35-yard reception by Ray Rice, the check-down receiver on a desperation heave.

"By no means did we play a perfect game out there," Ndukwe said. "We're certainly going to hear about our mistakes and hopefully get those fixed for Pittsburgh.



And even as he prepared for a workout, Peko knew Zimmer was working on a strategy to stop the Steelers -- "the mad scientist is up in his lab," Peko said of Zimmer.

What makes all this more impressive is that Zimmer is doing his job as well as anyone else in his position even after suffering personal tragedy when his wife passed away suddenly last month.

"He's a man of great character and resilience, to get through a season like this and still be effective as a coach, we count on him and we don't want to let him down and don't want to let each other down," Geathers said. "It's big, when he wake up every morning and come do his job like that, we know we have to do the same thing. We know there's no excuses, we can't make any excuses."

Peko, a pallbearer in Vicki Zimmer's funeral, said he's seen no change in Zimmer on the field in the last month.

"It was amazing to me for him to think of me like that," Peko said of participating in Vicki Zimmer's funeral. "I love playing for the guy, our defense, everyone loves playing for him, he gets you prepared so much so that on Sundays we already know what's happening so quickly that we don't have to think twice."

That's how the Bengals have played on defense - fast, furious and smart. And that goes back to their leader.

"Zim's the greatest, he's one of the best coaches I've been around," Ndukwe said. "I think we've come a long way and I love that he coaches us hard because I know he's coached a lot of great players and I want to be on that level. I appreciate the support he's given me and the tough love that he hands out."





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[b][size="5"]Bittersweet lab[/size][/b]
GEOFF HOBSON

Posted Nov 9, 2009

This is the kind of confidence the players have in Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who is now overseeing the 14th-ranked unit in the NFL that is ranked No. 2 against the rush.

Tackle Domata Peko spoke Monday about executing the game plan as the key to his unit's success and he smiled and looked at the ceiling. One floor up from the Paul Brown Stadium locker room are the coaches offices.

"Zim's up there right now in his laboratory getting it done," Peko said. "He's still doing his thing."

Quarterback [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/carson-palmer/b2e2fb04-af84-4af9-9491-5c1dd3354623/"][color="#f04e23"]Carson Palmer[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/img/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/color][/url] approached Zimmer on Saturday, just 24 hours before his guys poured his third-down concoction down the throat of the Ravens No. 10 offense that paralyzed Baltimore on one of 10 on conversions, and asked him if he would play well.

Zimmer said he'd be surprised if his guys wouldn't because they had such a good week, but he cautioned Palmer that the Ravens were averaging 28 points per game. Knowing that seven of Baltimore's 14 points last month came on an interception he threw, Palmer told Zimmer, "Not against you. I gave them some."

But don't get Zimmer wrong.

An NFL lifer, Zimmer is thrilled the Bengals are 6-2 and proud his retreads have allowed just six touchdowns in the crucible of four AFC North games to fuel a 4-0 division start. And when was the last time the Bengals were seventh in the NFL in yards per rush?


But the wins simply don't feel the same. Not since Zimmer's wife of 27 years died suddenly at home a month ago. Could a month of Sundays ever be so bittersweet with his team on top of the division and Vikki not here to share it?

"The wins are not nearly as good now," Zimmer said Monday in his lab, the game plan for Pittsburgh next Sunday percolating around him. "We beat Chicago and played pretty good on defense. Go home and it was actually a hard day. Because I was there. Yesterday we beat Baltimore and everybody's excited and I'm excited. But it's not the same excitement. I'm more concerned about how Adam is doing. How the girls are doing. I'm happy that we won, but…"

Adam, his 25-year-old son, is winning, too. He's the assistant linebackers coach for the 8-0 Saints. But when Mike visited him two weeks ago in New Orleans during the Bengals bye week, his father realized how much he was hurting. Mike realized a lot of things during the bye week when he visited his kids, Adam and his daughters who live in Dallas, 22-year-old Marki and 19-year-old Corri.

His son called his mother every night as he drove home from work. Recently Zimmer called one of his daughters and when he asked why she was upset and crying, the answer was heartbreakingly simple.


"I'm sad."


"I realized I need to help them more than I did," Zimmer said. "Those things kind of helped me realize I need to do better with them."

"It's tough on (Adam)," he said. "Maybe more so than I would have anticipated it would. Maybe because he's a boy."


The Post-it notes are all over his desk because he says he's now doing both "mom and dad things." He has vowed to drive more carefully and quit chewing tobacco after the season because "I don't want to leave these kids." If one of them calls or texts, Zimmer clicks off the video and takes 10 minutes to respond instead of waiting until after work.

"Football has always been big to me; maybe too big," Zimmer said. "But I realized I had to change my priorities just a little bit. ... Some of those things are more into focus than what they were before."

Zimmer admits the week of the funeral was hard. "I wasn't myself," he said. But the next week, as the Bengals prepared for the Bears, he said "I've got my bite back," and told his players to expect it. And two weeks later during the bye week he went around the room to each defensive player and told him what he needed to work on with characteristic bluntness.

In the last two games against those two signature smashmouth teams, the Bengals have allowed less than 500 yards, less than 100 rushing yards, and just 17 points while coming up with five interceptions.

Bittersweet.

Peko? One of the captains? The guy Zimmer calls the best nose tackle he's ever coached? He sat way in the back in that bye week meeting trying to hide, like a lot of other guys. Zimmer had to get to him last, reading from his notes, glasses perched on his nose, telling Peko he wanted to push the pocket, collapse it, and get to the passer.

"That's the type of coach I like; he'll tell you straight up," Peko said. "He doesn't care who you are. The oldest player. The youngest.

"It was real cool. He says, "The reason I'm so hard on you during the week is so on Sunday you don't have to think about it. Just play.' You don't have to worry about getting yelled at. All the yelling is out of the way during the week. ... That win against Chicago, we killed them pretty much, and it was good to say, 'Hey guys, you haven't arrived yet.' It was really good to hear that from him."

But Zimmer said he didn't mean the bye session to be a rip job.

"I wanted each guy to know what they have to do for all of us to get better," Zimmer said, "and I also wanted everyone in the room to know that I want this guy working on this and I want you to know it. I wasn't trying to call anybody out. I was just emphasizing they have to get better at two or three things and I want the other guys to know those two or three things so everybody is (equal)."


What doesn't make sense are the numbers. Last year the Bengals finished 12th and he didn't think they were that good. They went into the Baltimore game 21st and he thought they were better than that. Now they're 14th and while he says they're not where he thought they'd be stats-wise, they are playing-wise.

He bristles at the No. 25 ranking against the pass the day after the longest pass allowed to a Ravens wide receiver was 15 yards.

"But I can promise you," he said, "most people that go against us in the league think these guys are pretty damn good."

On Sunday, Zimmer said they played third down with a variety of looks. Zone. Man. Pressure. But the key was how well they disguised it before falling into something else.


And he got big games up front from ends like Jon Fanene and rookie [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/michael-johnson/b56aa7d9-808e-4cf2-a28c-ba03f25ef902/"][color="#f04e23"]Michael Johnson[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/img/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/color][/url]. The duo combined for the last sack of the game and Zimmer says it was Johnson's best week of rushes in awhile and that Fanene has practiced well all year and has therefore played well all year. But he also said two of those last three sacks were coverage sacks from a secondary he says is raising its level.

The working number is about 20 percent of the snaps were blitzes. There may have been slightly more in the original plan. But with a 17-0 lead, Zimmer wasn't going to give the Ravens an easy score off a big play.

Safety [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/chinedum-ndukwe/5e47f154-3a71-4768-9c15-de01e8af8547/"][color="#f04e23"]Chinedum Ndukwe[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/img/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/color][/url] calls Zimmer's style "tough love." Maybe because he says that with Ndukwe, "You need to stay on his butt to be disciplined." But in the next breath he also says Ndukwe played his best game of the year Sunday.


Don't let Ndukwe or Fanene know it, but Zimmer does speak well of his guys. Right after he praised Fanene's play, Fanene walked into Zimmer's office clearly to say hello and see how he was doing.


Twinkle firmly in eye, Zimmer said in delight, "You know why he's in here? Do you want to know why he's in here? He wants to see if he's in trouble."


(No doubt Fanene is since he celebrated that last sack by taking his helmet off on the field, a 15-yard penalty, before firing it to the sidelines with joy.)


"See? I know you like a book," Zimmer said, and with Fanene making the wise decision to back out of the office by saying "I'll see you Wednesday," Zimmer finished him off with, "Tell your wife, 'Hi.' I like her a lot more than you."


Fanene laughed as he went downstairs to get in a lift and Zimmer enjoyed the exchange, too, because he likes Fanene. He seems to like all his guys.

"They're good kids. They play hard. They do what you ask them to do," Zimmer said. "The coaches do a good job. I can't ask for more from the players. I told them Saturday night I love how they work, how they compete, how they respond to challenges."

The NFL world is upside down, isn't it? The Bengals can only score and never stop anyone but they're fifth in scoring defense. The Bengals have no personnel department and can't find players, the cliché goes, but they've taken [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/chris-crocker/2772f783-b547-470c-b074-6229e7234ebd/"][color="#f04e23"]Chris Crocker[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/img/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/color][/url], [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/roy-williams/5edf1671-f82a-40f1-9320-63e0ca1be6e4/"][color="#f04e23"]Roy Williams[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/img/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/color][/url] and [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/tank-johnson/56c60130-f938-45cf-aba0-62dece1c4fde/"][color="#f04e23"]Tank Johnson[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/img/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/color][/url] off the scrap heap, and plucked nickel back [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/morgan-trent/7ad33623-a4fd-4584-9e90-cab2c6ca5876/"][color="#f04e23"]Morgan Trent[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/img/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/color][/url] in the sixth round, not to mention [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/rey-maualuga/72e4f750-08d1-4fa5-abee-a5cfebe1389b/"][color="#f04e23"]Rey Maualuga[img]http://www.bengals.com/assets/img/icon-article-link.gif[/img][/color][/url] in the second.

Zimmer has played into it, reminding them no one wanted them, even putting himself in that category since the Rams and Chargers passed on him as a head coach when he interviewed there.

"It's brought up every now and then," Zimmer said. "They realize they're one play away from being out on the street again. ... A lot of these guys that come from other places say, 'I don't know why (I got cut), but I'm glad I'm here. It's a better fit for me.' I think they feel comfortable about what they're being told by the coaches and I think they feel comfortable how Marvin (Lewis) handles it."

But at 6-2, don't those chips on the shoulder become soft?

"No, because I think they can smell it," Zimmer said. "We've only got eight games left. I think they kind of smell it now. It's whatever they want. It's within our grasp. So I don't think it will be hard at all."

And with that, Zimmer's bittersweet lab of Post-it notes and pressure packages went back to work.








[url="http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Bittersweet-lab/7fe754e3-31c6-4ba7-99d3-077126adb3f6"]http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Bittersweet-lab/7fe754e3-31c6-4ba7-99d3-077126adb3f6[/url]

[oldschooler]

[b][size="5"]Bengals coach Mike Zimmer presses on with heavy heart[/size][/b]

[b][size="4"]Team's successes ring hollow after loss of wife[/size][/b]
By Joe Reedy • [email="jreedy@enquirer.com"]jreedy@enquirer.com[/email] • November 9, 2009


He's still the fiery and determined defensive coordinator, but the last month has been difficult for Mike Zimmer.

While he has called three great defensive games, including two against Baltimore, Zimmer has continued to press on despite the death of his wife, Vikki, who passed away on Oct. 8 from natural causes.

Even after Zimmer's defense confounded the Ravens again in a 17-7 victory on Sunday, the excitement of the wins has been muted a little from the events of last month.

"The wins are not nearly as good now," said Zimmer on Monday. "We beat Chicago (two weeks ago), played pretty good on defense that game. I go home and it was actually a hard day because I go home and I'm there.

"Like yesterday we beat Baltimore. Everyone's excited and I'm excited but it's not the same excitement. I'm more concerned about how Adam is doing and the girls (Marki and Corri) are doing. I'm happy that we won, just not as ecstatic. Those are the things that I notice."

While still preparing game plans and breaking down game films, Zimmer said he finds himself "doing a little less football stuff and more dad stuff." That can mean quickly returning a call or text from one of his daughters instead of waiting until after work or something like driving a little bit slower on the way to and from the office.

During the Bengals bye week, Zimmer went to visit his daughters in Dallas and Adam in New Orleans, where he is a defensive assistant for the linebackers with the Saints. The off week allowed Zimmer a chance to get away after the three hectic weeks on and off the field following his wife's death and put some things in focus.

"It helped me realize that I have to help my family more than what I am," Zimmer said. "I went to Dallas and saw my two daughters and realized that I have to help them more than what I did. Then we went to New Orleans and saw Adam and realized it's tough on him, maybe more so than I anticipated it would. He used to call Vikki every night on his way home from work. The girls, I'll call them and the one is just crying like crazy on the phone and I'll ask what's wrong and she'll say 'I'm sad.' Those things kind of helped me realize I've got to do better with them."

The players have also taken it upon themselves to look after Zimmer too, stopping into his office to say hello or just ask how things are going.

In many ways though it is still the same Zimmer. Before the Bengals left on their bye week, Zimmer went player by player in the defensive room pointing out things they needed to work on. The message? The Chicago game was good, but they can be even better.

"He's straightforward and blunt, but that's what makes him a good coach," safety Chinedum Ndukwe said. "That's why players respect him because he keeps you honest and on track and that's helped us."

For Zimmer, the point wasn't to embarrass anyone or call them out, it was to make sure each player was accountable to the other and to make sure everyone knew what the goals were in practice.

Said defensive tackle Domata Peko, who was sitting in the back during that meeting: "He's still doing his thing. When you see him he's happy with how good we're playing but he also motivates you. If you're doing something wrong he's not going to be afraid to tell you straight up from the oldest guy to the youngest."

Following the loss to Houston, which capped a difficult week that included Vikki Zimmer's funeral and a team that was emotionally spent, the defense has been back on track.

In the last two games, a 45-10 win over Chicago and 17-7 victory over Baltimore, the Bengals have had their best defensive efforts of the season. Against the Ravens, they held Joe Flacco to 76 yards passing and Ray Rice to 50 total yards through three quarters. For the game, the Ravens had 215 total yards (which is 163 below their season average) but 117 of those came in the final 15 minutes.

Said Peko: "It's crazy. Every Wednesday we go in and he tells us what they do and you see everyone scribbling down notes. He's doing a good job breaking down teams. He's tough on us during the week so we don't have to think about it twice during the game. We can just play ball."

During the first half of the last two games, they've allowed just 185 yards.

After being under the radar during the first half of the season, the Bengals are definitely on it on the heels of a 6-2 record and a sweep of the Ravens.

"We did some things different but the bottom line is you have to be yourself," said Zimmer of the Ravens game. "We're going to adjust a few things each week. I really think the good football teams do what they do and continue to do it better than everyone else."

Some of that stuff included varying coverages while Zimmer had a better feel for what Rice could do. In the pass game, the Bengals allowed only five passes to wide receivers, while intercepting Flacco twice while Rice and the running game didn't get on track until early in the fourth quarter.

Zimmer had a feeling during Saturday's walk through that his unit would play well. During a meeting when he asked how many screens the Ravens usually run, the players quickly blurted out the answer.

"Carson (Palmer) came up to me on Saturday and asked 'are you going to play good?' and I said I would be really surprised if we didn't play good," Zimmer said. "I mentioned that they were averaging 28 points a game and he said 'but not against you. I gave them some points the last time.' "

Statswise, the Bengals have improved the past couple weeks and have risen to 14th in the league. While they are second against the run (giving up 83.9 yards per game) they are 25th against the pass (241.6) due to giving up a lot of plus-20 yard pass plays, especially late in games. They are also fifth in the league in scoring defense (16.9 points per game).






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