The Dallas Cowboys are currently sifting through the rubble of their disastrous 2024-25 season to try to figure out what went wrong. Dallas missed out on the playoffs for the first time in several years this season and has since parted ways with head coach Mike McCarthy, who saw his first losing season in Dallas come to pass in 2024-25.
With the search now on for a new head coach, and numerous high profile names already having been tied to the vacancy, there is considerable question about what the fates will be of some of Dallas' assistant coaches under McCarthy, including defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.
Recently, Zimmer didn't exactly provide an encouraging outlook for Cowboys fans hoping to retain his services.
“All options are open,” said Zimmer, per NFL insider Tom Pelissero on X.
“I really enjoy coaching,” he added.
Zimmer has a plethora of experience coaching at the NFL level, including most recently head coaching for the Minnesota Vikings prior to his tenure in Dallas. While he was never able to get over the hump with Minnesota, Zimmer did bring considerable success to that franchise over the years.
Where does Dallas go from here?

Not a whole lot went right for the Dallas Cowboys during the 2024-25 season, a trend which really began before the campaign even got underway with several volatile contract situations that got ugly over the summer with some of the team's star players.
Throughout the year, Dallas was dealt several brutal injury cards, including to stars Micah Parsons and Dak Prescott, but even when the team was mostly healthy, it didn't much resemble the squad that had consistently won 12 games per year under McCarthy.
Dallas' once-vaunted defense looked like a shell of itself under Zimmer after the departure of former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, and the Cowboys' offense wasn't inventive enough to make up the difference. The end result was the team missing out on the playoffs in a year that the NFC field seems to be as open as ever.
In any case, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see a totally revamped staff under whoever Jerry Jones hires to be the Cowboys' next head coach.