Mike Zimmer becomes the first head coach to behave like normal

Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was back at practice on Tuesday, after two operations last week on a detached retina in his right eye. While the coach said doctors "haven't told me I can't do anything," he added he'll be smart about his eye going forward. I understand the seriousness of the issue. Zimmer will be able to travel on the team flight to Florida this weekend, and Zimmer said there is no gas bubble on his eye to push his retina back into place.

This is a completely different approach than the original one for the Vikings' head coach. Zimmer had his first eye surgery in early November. The issue came about after he had trouble with his vision, and scratched his eye during an Oct. 31 game at the Chicago Bears. That’s when he was diagnosed with a torn retina. The Associated Press report said he was at risk for blindness if he didn’t get treatment right away. Zimmer wanted to put off the operation until after the Dallas Cowboys' game last Thursday, but doctors won the battle and emergency surgery was performed.

On January 10, 1983, Dick Vermeil, describing himself as ''emotionally burned out'' after seven years of self-imposed workdays of 18 and 20 hours, resigned today as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. "I'm my own worst enemy," said Vermeil, who made a practice of sleeping on a cot in his office at least three nights a week during the season. "I'm far too intense, far too emotional."

Nick Saban responded to a question about the 2016 presidential election by saying that he "didn't even know yesterday was Election Day." Alabama coach Nick Saban says he forgot about Election Day, not about voting. He says Tuesdays are the busiest day of the week for the coaches.

Former Providence College head basketball coach Pete Gillen always preached teamwork and togetherness. "This isn't open-heart surgery. We want to win, but we also want to have fun and enjoy playing together. The hard work is always there. The stress, the anxiety and the sacrifice ... that's all part of it. But if the journey is all pain and misery, then, to me, you're missing a big ingredient to life."

Gillen may not have always practiced what he preached. When the elementary school called Providence Athletics one day to inform the coach that his young son was injured on the playground, Gillen did not know his son's social security number, date of birth or teacher's name. Fortunately, somebody at the college was able to look up the vital information. Gillen's wife was out of town.

Oakland Raiders' head coach John Madden retired as a Super Bowl winning head coach at 42. He was the youngest coach ever to reach 100 career regular season victories, a record he compiled in only ten full seasons of coaching. The Raiders did not make the playoffs in his final season. When informed by his wife Virginia that their oldest son needed a car for college, Madden replied" I didn't know he had his license." The kid had been driving for two years.

Barry Switzer coached the Dallas Cowboys for four seasons, winning one Super Bowl in his tenure. His motto was " Tail-lights at Two O'Clock." His interest had waned significantly following his 16 years at the University of Oklahoma. Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones tolerated Switzer's behavior because the team was successful.

In August 1997, Switzer was arrested after a loaded .38-caliber revolver was found in his luggage at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Switzer said there were children at his Dallas home and he put the gun in his bag to hide it from them. He said he accidentally forgot to remove the gun from the bag before heading to the airport.

I wonder if Nick Saban knows that Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November or that February has only 28 days. No chance of teaching him about Leap Year. We won't touch it.

Paul Murphy

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