Zimmer News a Painful Reminder for Dolphins

The Minnesota Vikings reportedly are set to give a contract extension to Head Coach Mike Zimmer, who once upon a time was a candidate for the Miami Dolphins

Brian Spurlock-USA Today Sports

So word has come out of Minnesota that the Vikings are planning on giving Head Coach Mike Zimmer a contract extension.

But what does that have to do with the Dolphins, you ask?

Sadly for fans of the franchise, it makes us think about what could have been.

The Vikings obviously think Zimmer is a good coach, and the Dolphins clearly did as well back in 2012 because they interviewed to take over as head coach after they had fired Tony Sparano the previous December.

As it turned out, the Dolphins passed on Zimmer to instead hire Joe Philbin, who failed to get the Dolphins to the playoffs before being fired four games into the 2015 season.

As for Zimmer, he became Vikings head coach in 2014, has had one losing season (his first) as six years, and has taken the Vikes to the playoffs three times.

Zimmer's winning percentage of .599 is better than that of any Dolphins head coach except for Hall of Famer Don Shula's .659. Philbin amassed a winning percentage of .452 in his 52 games.

Jim Matthews-USA Today Sports

The worst part of all this? Zimmer was dismissed as a coaching candidate by the Dophins because he was deemed "too blunt and honest," according to The Miami Herald.

Yup, this is probably a decision the Dolphins wish they had back.

This also sadly wasn't the first time the Dolphins made what could only be described as a regrettable coaching decision based on what happened after the fact.

We can also look back at 2007 when Mike Tomlin was among the candidates for the head-coaching position after Nick Saban famously bolted for the University of Alabama after his infamous, "How many times do I have to say it? I'm not going to be the Alabama coach."

It's interesting to note that another candidate that year was Chan Gailey, who is back for a second stint this year as Dolphins offensive coordinator.

Anyway, the Dolphins tabbed Cam Cameron after he had guided a Chargers offense that featured Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson, and we all know how that turned out: Cameron was done after one miserable year when the Dolphins' only victory came in overtime in December.

Tomlin instead took over as Steelers head coach in 2007, and in his first 13 seasons has produced a Super Bowl title, two Super Bowl appearances, eight playoff berths and a winning percentage of .642.

That one hurts even more.