Frazier becomes permanent coach… for now
On Monday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings did the expected thing; they hired former defensive coordinator and current interim head coach Leslie Frazier as their permanent head coach to replace the fired Brad Childress. That’s not to say it is the right call, or that it’s not the right call. But it is the call the Wilf family has made.
Frazier has a lot going for him. First, he’s familiar with the team, serving here since 2007 as defensive coordinator. After being named interim head coach, Frazier’s Vikings went 3-3, which was better than the trajectory the team was on under Childress this season. His signature win came on a rare Tuesday night against Philadelphia, yet he was unable to avoid a season-ending loss to the historically woeful Detroit Lions.
Frazier inherits a team that will be in transition. With something like 18 pending free agents, many guys who plan to retire and an off-season that could last a long time if NFL owners impose a lockout, as is widely feared and expected, Frazier’s ascension to his first head coaching position is likely to continue to be a trial by fire.
Key free agents include Sidney Rice, Chad Greenway and others, and while Adrian Peterson still has a year left under contract, it is expected the team will want to extend his deal before the Vikings take the field for their next regular season game… whether that’s in fall 2011 or later.
Some likely retirees include Brett Favre, Pat Williams, Jim Kleinsasser, Antoine Winfield and potentially even Ryan Longwell. Even Steve Hutchinson isn’t getting any younger. And there’s a slim chance Kevin Williams might retire if Pat does.
The upshot? Whenever labor peace is reached, the Vikings are going to have a lot of holes to fill and while Leslie Frazier’s job is to identify the utensils to get the job done, whatever team takes the field when the Vikings enter their next regular season, there’s little doubt it will be a vastly different – and likely a considerably younger – squad than this year’s version.
