For all of the pain and misery that can accompany a coaching search, the Vikings' process seemed quite orderly and predictable -- in a good way.

Rick Spielman said the organization was going to cast a wide net, and by all accounts the Vikings did. He said they would be patient, and they were the second-to-last team to decide on a coach. Once news of finalists started to emerge last week, it was presumed a coach could be named around the middle of this week.

And here we are, on Wednesday, with news that Mike Zimmer will be the ninth head coach in franchise history.

Much has already been written about Zimmer, who seemed to be a front-runner for the job almost from the start. He's fiery. He's had defensive success. He's dealt with personal tragedy in a very human way.

Is there risk with this hire? Of course. He's 57 and he's never been a head coach. Nobody really knows how he will react when he gets into the top spot.

That said, we certainly see it as risk-reward. Zimmer appears to have the framework that will make him a successful head coach. Now he needs to hire a great offensive coordinator. Then the Vikings need to find a quarterback of the future.

Those are next steps. This is the first step, and it sure looks like a good one.