OSU football: Zimmermann’s journey leads him back home

Zimmermann signed with City College of San Francisco out of West Albany High and helped the Rams to an undefeated season. The team won the California junior college state championship and was voted national JUCO champions.

A 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end, Zimmermann played well enough to catch the eye of some scouts.

He was invited to make a recruiting trip to New Mexico. It seemed to be the perfect situation, a shot at a spot on a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision program.

It was a quick decision.

“At the end of that season, actually right after we played in the championship game, I went on a flight to Albuquerque and went on my official visit and I signed with them three days later,” Zimmermann said.

It wasn’t long before the doubts began to swirl around inside Zimmermann’s mind.

He liked New Mexico and nothing negative had happened, but he was a long way from Albany and hopping into the car and making a quick drive to visit friends and family was out of the question.

Zimmermann said that after a COVID-shortened senior season with the Bulldogs he wanted to continue with the sport. Yet there was a nagging notion that he no longer had the amount of passion for football that he needed to play at that level.

That realization was a turning point. Although he had barely started the process at New Mexico, Zimmermann decided to return to Albany.

His decision wasn’t easy. Nearly everyone he knew tried to talk him into staying. His parents, other family members, mentors.

The New Mexico coaching staff encouraged him to remain with the team.

“A lot of different advice, most of which involved giving it more of a chance,” Zimmermann said. “Just lots of different conversations. I will say it was a tough period hearing one thing and knowing everyone’s trying to look out for you out of a good place in their heart but feeling deep down you know the decision you’ve come to.”

So Zimmermann returned home with no real plans for the near future.

He thought about getting a job and maybe taking a few classes at Linn-Benton Community College.

Then his father, Todd Zimmermann, applied to become the Roadrunners’ head basketball coach. He had been a high school girls basketball coach at Sacred Heart Academy and at Pendleton High and was the boys coach at West Albany as well as an associate head coach at LBCC. He was hired and started the job in the spring of 2022.

Tj Zimmermann had played basketball in high school through his junior season but had not played under his father since middle school, so he was immediately taken with the idea of joining the program.

“My dad got the job and we started doing open gyms,” Zimmermann said. “We had talked and he believed I had the skill level to be a player for him but we both didn’t know and he didn’t want his first decision as a head coach to be, I’m going to sign my son. So I started going to open gyms. There were a couple of guys on the team who knew who I was and that I was his kid but a lot of the guys there didn’t. And I was one of the last signees.”

One of the last but Zimmermann became one of the best players for the Roadrunners.

Zimmerman finished his first season averaging 21 points and 7.7 rebounds a game. This past season he averaged 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists a game.

He was a two-time all-NWAC South Region first-team selection and ended with 1,213 points over two years, which is second among LBCC career scorers.

He was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-American team both seasons.

It was easy for Todd Zimmermann to see the potential in his son. He quickly realized that Tj had the footwork and shooting touch to be a solid low post player at that level.

Todd Zimmerman was concerned about how the other players would see the addition of his son to the team but those worries were quickly alleviated.

And while Tj checked most boxes as a low post player, he measured in at 6-foot-5 with shoes on while many other teams had players ranging up to 6-10 or so.

“Those questions got answered quickly as he showed he could use his leverage and his width very effectively,” Todd Zimmermann said.

Tj thrived under his father’s guidance. But it wasn’t always perfect.

Zimmermann had to catch himself every now and then before he started to whine about working on a drill or a long practice.

“We got into each other pretty good a couple different times but it comes from a place of love and knowing each other so well and being competitive,” Tj Zimmermann said. “We wanted the best out of each other, really.”

Todd Zimmermann went back to a rule that he used when Tj and his sister, Tessa, a volleyball player who is finishing out her first year at Southern Oregon, were younger.

As their coach and father, Todd had them ask to talk to ‘Coach Z’ if they wanted to talk about the sport.

“Just because they play for a coach that happens to be their parent doesn’t mean they shouldn’t still have the opportunity to talk to their parents,” Todd Zimmermann said. “So I felt like Tj did a really good job of telling me, this is dad-son talk here or this is coach-player talk here.”

Basketball took a back seat for both Todd and Tj late in Tj’s first season at LBCC.

Todd had a health scare that landed him in the emergency room. A rare birth defect began to cause issues in his throat as cysts had formed and began to close up the area.

A breathing tube was used to allow air to pass through. He was put on life support and was asleep for seven days and in the hospital for 12 days. He had to fight through infections and pneumonia during the process.

“(I was) basically out of commission somewhere around the 16th of February until the second week of May, which is when they finally allowed me to go back to work,” Todd Zimmermann said.

Tj continued to play basketball, knowing very well that his dad would not be happy if he stopped.

When they weren’t at work, in school or at practice, Tj, his mother, Tracy, and his sister would spend time in the hospital room.

When Todd woke up, his hands were so shaky that he could not feed himself and Tj was there to help him with the process.

Todd discovered that Tj had told him jokes while he was out.

“He’s always told cheesy kind of one-liner jokes and I guess he would read those to me and I guess when I was first waking up he told me a couple and asked if I was enjoying them and I kind of growled at him,” Todd said.

The problem was eventually diagnosed and surgery was performed to correct it. Zimmermann said his father is now close to fully recovered .

Zimmermann said he was grateful to be able to play for his father.

“It’s kind of a cool bond and experience that not every athlete gets to go through,” he said. “Everyone gets coached by their parents at home but it’s a little different when they’re on the court with you. But it went great.”

So now what? More basketball?

Well, no.

That old passion for football has returned.

Zimmermann has decided to give the sport another shot. He plans to play tight end for the Beavers and has two years of eligibility.

He was waiting on OSU to send him the official social media announcement and on Wednesday it came through and he was able to post the news on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account.

This time it’s not a snap decision based on a quick trip. Zimmerman is determined to be all-in on being a part of the program.

Zimmermann has talked to OSU coach Trent Bray and other coaches on the staff.

They asked him if the passion to play football has returned. Zimmermann assured them that he’s ready to go.

“Everything’s got to be earned, obviously, but I’m looking forward to coming in and competing and being a part of such a great culture and a great team and being so close to home,” Zimmermann said. “I’m really fired up and excited and I can feel that passion that had been somewhat lacking. I have that passion that I knew I needed to have in order to do something like this.

“It’s kind of crazy how life works out.”