Spielman also experienced the analytical Zimmer, the one who sat back and listened before delivering a nuanced argument about why his defense needed a particular player or two. The first offseason Zimmer spent with his general manager as the Vikings head coach back in 2014 was one in which Minnesota possessed the ninth overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Zimmer coveted UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr with that pick despite him not being a fit with the defensive scheme previously run under Zimmer's predecessor, Leslie Frazier. He convinced Spielman that Barr was the move, and the end result was the linebacker earning four Pro Bowl selections under his tutelage. 

"Our first draft [together] we drafted Anthony Barr, who may not have fit the scheme that we had ran in the past, but Coach Zimmer got up there and talked about 'this is what the Barr's strength is. This is what I know how I can utilize him in the scheme, and this is why he's going to be a really good player in this scheme because we're gonna do X Y and Z with him,'" Spielman said. ... "That was an example of a very clear vision of how he was going to use Anthony Barr, how he's gonna use him to try to create mismatches and protections where he would end up on a running back trying to block him instead of an offensive lineman. So, that's why I'm extremely excited to see what he comes up with and how he's going to use Micah Parsons down there in Dallas."

The Zimmer-Parsons partnership

Parsons, a three-time All-Pro edge rusher who is one of only five players to have at least 40 sacks (40.5) in his first three NFL seasons since the sack became an official statistic in 1982, is excited about getting to know his new DC in training camp and during the season after missing most of the Cowboys' offseason program

"Honestly, me and Zim have probably said a total of 20 words together," Parsons said at Dallas' mandatory minicamp on June 4. "He's a very quiet person. All I keep hearing from the coaches, 'Zim likes it this way.' Well, I like it this way. So I can't wait to sit down with him because that would be pretty cool. Obviously, old school mindset, old school mentality. You know I think he's had a lot of great players but he ain't ever had a Micah before. So it'll be fun. I think it's going to be unique. There's a lot of similarities in things how he uses me with how [former Cowboys DC] Dan [Quinn] used me in his system. He has more tweaks and turns of how he's going to set things up. There's some things I've got to get used to too. Obviously, some things I've got to get used to, too. You know it's going to be a compromising relationship."  

Parsons' career defensive snap alignment

  2021 2022 2023

Defensive Line

41.3%

81.1%

87.2%

Linebacker

55.2%

18.1%

12.7%

Defensive Back

3.5%

0.8%

0.1%

*Data according to Pro Football Focus

"He's [Parsons] such a dynamic player that I said this the other day: 'Offenses are always going to know where he's at.' They're going to turn protections to him, have the back help chip no matter what it is," Zimmer said. "In a lot of the games he played last year that I watched, the offenses had a good scheme where they get two tight ends on him and all those things. So, we're going to obviously move him around, do different things with him, but we're going to use him some ways where we're getting the protection turned the way we want it turned and able to win on the other side. Sometimes, we're going to try to overload a protection where he gets a one-on-one."    

There is no doubt Zimmer will spend the five-to-six-week break between the Cowboys' minicamp and training camp daydreaming about the best utilization of Parsons and the rest of his personnel in Dallas' defense. 

"When I think of Zim, I don't think about anything besides being out here on the grass and playing football. That guy's a true football guy, through and through," Kendricks said. "He watches film on his off days. He really enjoys it. It's good to be back with him."