Nate Davis

USATODAY

Minnesota Vikings players won't recognize their Eden Prairie, Minn., headquarters when they report for voluntary offseason workouts Monday.

New coach Mike Zimmer had a theater-like meeting room built to accommodate the full team, upgraded the weight room and revamped the club's nutrition program.

Of course, Zimmer, a rookie head coach after spending the past 20 years as an NFL assistant, must also get familiarized with his new team.\

"It's a chance for the players to find out what our personalities are like and vice versa," Zimmer told USA TODAY Sports. "(To understand) how they learn and what's the best way to teach them. All those things are extremely important."

Since the latest collective bargaining agreement took effect in 2011, a team making a head coaching change is given a two-week head start to its offseason program and awarded an extra voluntary minicamp. The Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins are also re-opening their doors to players this week, though activities must be limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation.

Still, an early immersion into a new program should be an advantage.

"The biggest thing is you just want to get as much information as you can as early as possible," retired quarterback and two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner told USA TODAY Sports.

"I think it's very valuable for these teams with new staffs and new systems to really get in front of the guys and get them that information so they can start plugging away."

Yet setting a tone is just as important as distributing playbooks.

"You have to emphasize what your expectations are," new Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt told USA TODAY Sports. "And you've got to be really good about the communication and how important that is and the type of atmosphere that you want around the facility. First day, I think those are the important messages."

The Titans represent Whisenhunt's second crack at a top job. He went 49-53 in six years with the Arizona Cardinals and, with Warner's help, led them to their first Super Bowl berth following the 2008 season.

"The great thing about Ken is that he came in with a plan and a vision for what we could be as an organization," Warner said. "I'm sure not a lot of guys really bought into it and believed it at first, but he was very consistent with his message. ... I expect big things for Tennessee."

And there's the rub. Expectations in the NFL are rarely tempered, even for coaches just walking through the door. And why not? Chip Kelly (Philadelphia Eagles), Mike McCoy (San Diego Chargers) and Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs) each guided their clubs to postseason berths in 2013 during their first seasons at the helm.

"Coming in here to this team that was 7-9 last year, that was in a lot of close games, you feel like that is what's expected," Whisenhunt said. "It's not a rebuilding mentality."

And so what if a little information overload occurs out of the chute. Minicamps and training camps provide future opportunities to get everyone pulling in the same direction.

"I think you try to give them as much as you can," Whisenhunt said.

"You find what they can handle. And just based on the competitive nature of most of the players in the NFL today, they like that."