The Vikings Have No Idea In Which Direction They Are Going
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by user Leslie Monteiro
Minnesota Vikings incumbent owner Zygi Wilf brought the franchise from the previous owner, Red McCombs in June 2005. He paid 600 million dollars to buy it. The thought from Vikings fans was that a new ownership would propel the franchise to great heights after all the negative stuff that came with it under McCombs.
Sadly, this team under Wilf's stewardship is no better than it was under McCombs. They has not been in the playoffs under new ownership. The head coach is over his head. This team does not have a general manager. They are no closer to getting to a new stadium. According to Wilf, the solution to these problems is Zygi being hands-on next year. This can not get Vikings fans excited.
This was another forgettable season. It is becoming the norm for Vikings fans. Every year, there are high expectations from fans yet they come away dissapointed. It makes one wonder why they get so excited once training camp comes. Maybe next season, fans will just enjoy them and hope for some good things instead of thinking Super Bowl, which has been a mindset since that unforgettable 1998 season. It was a forgettable season because the team played horrible. They could not score any points. The defense was giving up big plays at the end of the season. They dealt with a quarterback change from Brad Johnson to the raw rookie, Tavaris Jackson, who has a lot to learn.
Maybe Brad Childress will be a great coach for the Purple when all is said and done, but there has to be too many red flags on this guy.
First off, he did a horrible job getting the most out of his team. He may not have playmakers on his team, but there is no reason to be this bad offensively. One has to wonder if poor coaching was a result of Troy Williamson dropping passes. Johnson may not be a great quarterback, but how did he played this badly this season.
Second, his play-calling was terrible. It was predictable. Everyone knew that Vikings running back Chester Taylor was going to run the ball because the coach had zero faith in his quarterback and his wide receivers. Even though those guys stink, Childress should try to get something out of their passing game because it is the only way that they are going to score.
Finally, his people skills left a lot to be desired. He alienated most of his players at mid-season. It started when he and former Vikings great Daunte Culpepper disagreed about where Daunte should workout. He wanted Daunte to be in Minnesota to workout not in Florida. Daunte refused so the head coach sent him packing in his first move of the team. This was a first sign that the coach could be a problem. Apparently, he and Johnson had at issues at how to run the offense in training camp. Johnson wanted to run plays on his own, but the coach demanded that his quarterback follow the script or lose his job to his backup, Brooks Bollinger, who showed Vikings fans nothing when he played. The coach said that it was his way or the highway. This style will alienate his players. Sports is now a players league. There has to be a give-and-take. The coach took his disciplinarian role way too seriously. It was no coincidence that the guys quit on the head coach in the final game of the season against the St. Louis Rams at the Dome.
It is bad enough that he has no clue how to find talent, but he can not coach and get his team prepared. HIs team took stupid penalties every game. This is a coaching issue. Shouldn't he be teaching them in practice not to go offsides? Good practice habits translates to good performance on Sundays. Why is the team being outworked every game too? For his alleged genius on offense, why can't he come up with good gameplans every week and why his team can never adapt to adjustments from other teams after halftime. These examples makes you wonder if he is way over his head.
The first step the head coach should do is give up play-calling. He has no idea how to run an offense. There was a reason why Eagles head coach Andy Reid did the play-calling most of the time, not Childress in Philadelphia. It is no secret the Eagles finally clicked offensively when Marty Mornhinweg, who is Childress's replacement as offensive coordinator, this season. He should hire Jim Fassel, who is not only great in running an offense, but great in mentoring quarterbacks. Fassel is the right guy to help Jackson in his role as the starting quarterback. Unfortunately, this is wishful thinking since he plans on calling the plays. Wilf should order his head coach to not bother and hire Fassel. After all, Wilf will be hands-on, right.
Speaking of Wilf being hands-on, does anyone wonder think that will be the answer to this team's problems. He has showed no idea what he is doing. He did great things in spending money in getting better players and then improving the facility at Winter Park. With that said, he has no idea how to run a football team. First of all, his Triangle of Authority is a disaster. He hired Fran Foley and Brad Childress to help make decisions with him being the final answer. This blew up in a hurry. Foley and Childress never got along. Better yet, Foley ticked everyone in the organization off so he was sent packing for good reason. Foley was never thought highly by his peers back then so what did Wilf see in him. Rick Spielman was Foley's replacement, but he seems clueless especially with his work at Detroit, Chicago, and Miami. Childress has no business running the team when he never coached in his life.
Wilf should hire a general manager. A general manager that has a good eye of talent based on his experience as pro personnel man for an organization. A guy that knows about the salary cap and how to find the right mix. A guy that can be a buffer between the head coach and the players. A guy that knows how to deal with the agents. A guy that knows what are the ingredients of being a great coach. Wilf does not want that since he wants total control like Arthur Blank, Jerry Jones, and Dan Snyder. Organizations in sports never win when an owner plays GM. Wilf struck out when he hired Childress right away. He should have interviewed other candidates before making final decision. He fell in love with Childress's fire and brimstone speech and hired him on the spot. This was a dumb decision. Sure this column is about 20-20 hindsight, but does teams ever hire a head coach or GM or president of operations based on one interview. This move could set the team back for years if this head coach fails.
It is hard to believe that this team is getting better anytime soon. The quarterback has a lot to learn. So does the head coach in terms of coaching and the players. The owner needs to look in the mirror and realize that him being hands-on will not be the answer.
Look for another ugly season next year.
