A NEW ERA FOR MINNESOTA VIKINGS FOOTBALL STARTS TODAY
Written by Tony Schultz on February 17, 2022
The shelf life of a professional athlete is not very long on average. For every Tom Brady there are several more Dimitrius Underwoods. The job status of a head coach can be even shorter. Sometimes a head coach gets his first shot at being the man in charge when he’s pretty long in the tooth such as Mike Zimmer finally getting the head position with the Vikings at the age of 57. As seems to be the trend now coaches are getting that opportunity at a younger age. Zimmer was fired after 8 years as the Vikings head coach and is now 65 years old. Sean McVay, who just won the Super Bowl on Sunday was 30 when the Rams hired him as their head coach trying to find young talent that associates better with the younger players. So, it was in no way surprising that the Minnesota Vikings went with that same path by hiring Kevin O’Connell as their 10th head coach to hold that position. O’Connell is 36 years old and considered one of the best young offensive minds coming up in the NFL. His game plans helped the Rams get to the Super Bowl and made wide receiver Cooper Kupp a serious contender for the NFL MVP award this year. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson has already given his approval as he saw Kupp not only have a career year, but get a ring. He knows he can be that big of a factor as well for the Vikings and be a catalyst for the offense to be one of the more feared in the league. Zygi Wilf and the owners seem to think the same thing.
Earlier this year the Vikings went younger at the General Manger position by hiring Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Kwesi came from the Browns organization and is known more for his analytical thought process than his football knowledge. It’s not a bad thing, but a different way to analyze which players to draft and how to handle free agency along with the salary cap. Recently released General Manager Rick Spielman was more of a football minded person looking more at players attributes and statistics for simply what they were. Again, not a bad way to look at talent just a different way. Adofo-Mensah is put in the task of helping either strengthen this franchise immediately or completely rebuilding it. When the late Dennis Green was hired in 1992 by the Vikings he did a fair amount of housecleaning by getting rid of some big names on both sides of the ball in his attempt to build the team back up from the Herschel Walker trade. New defensive coordinator Ed Donatell is an established coach and won rings with the Denver Broncos in the late 90s. He also is known for using the the 3-4 defense over the years. That’s where there are 3 down defensive linemen and 4 linebackers attacking the offense. You need certain personnel to run it with effectiveness and not every current player on the defense may fit that scheme. Players like Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, Michael Pierce, and Dalvin Tomlinson can be used in it’s implementation, but pass rushers like Danielle Hunter and James Lynch may not be as effective on the defensive line or as a player attacking from a standing position. It could even be argued that Harrison Smith won’t be as effective from his safety position although I think he is good enough and smart enough to transition into any defense. Adofo-Mensah will have to make sure that draft picks are key to both sides of the ball’s operation and that free agents aren’t just signed by the merit of their name or even where the Vikings previous management drafted them.
What we can expect to see from this new regime remains to be truly seen. I would speculate that we will see a shift towards more focus on the offense simply because that is the head coach’s strength, but also because that is where the NFL is right now. They want to see more points on the scoreboard and people tweeting about how their fantasy football team is doing. The failure of Mike Zimmer, who I loved as the head coach was his inability to let go and let the offensive coordinators run their offense with their given personnel. The head coach always wants it to compliment his entire style and his strength was unarguably defense. However, Zimmer failed to see that with his defense and the way it could affect a game that if he would let the reigns go on offense it could have been a much more formidable team to play against. It would have been less predictable and maybe a few players would have shined even brighter and Stephon Diggs never would have been traded, and Kirk Cousins would be seen in a different light than he is right now. Until Donatell gets in and really gets his hands dirty we don’t know if the defense will change much or get a complete overhaul. If players like Hunter get traded or outright released it will start to paint a better picture. Don’t think that can’t happen as a player of Danielle’s caliber would be a welcome addition to a team and removing his salary cap from the team would help there as well. The Vikings are currently $15 million over the cap and that is not all Kirk Cousins’ fault. Hunter, Adam Thielen, Kendricks, Smith, Dalvin Cook, and Pierce all have double digit salaries and there are quarterbacks making more than Cousins throughout the league. I believe Kirk does need to make a salary cap restructure in order for the rest of the team to be successful this year. Since his $45 million salary is guaranteed they might be able to restructure for a longer contract and spread that out over the next few years. If he doesn’t then trading him becomes a real possibility. Cook could also be traded as running backs are not the premium players they once were even though he is a top three player at his position. Offensive line is still an issue and the new coaches will need to determine if Spielman left behind the proper pieces to work with and Zimmer just didn’t utilize them properly, or if more changes are needed. Christian Darrisaw, Ezra Cleveland, and Brian O’Neill are most likely staying put, but what was the deal with Wyatt Davis never seeing the field? Was there a problem with him mentally or physically? It was a big question because he was one of the best linemen coming out of college and played very well in the preseason. Will Mason Cole be the starting center or do the new coaches see something in Garret Bradbury that they can work with that the previous staff missed out on?
I’m excited for this new direction for the team. They have many pieces that are already in place and adding just a few more may put them over the hump they have been sitting on with the fans just waiting for them to get over the top. Will the Vikings find the same success with younger coaches as the Rams and Bengals did this last year? Or will this be another start to the roller coaster ride our emotions take with this team as they struggle to find their identity while finding new and innovative ways to lose games and break our hearts? At the start we will hear all the buzz words and phrases like “we’re going to evaluate the entire roster”, “nothing is off the table”, and “this team is full of history and our goal is to get this fan base a Super Bowl”. Every new leadership group says these things. What Vikings fans are hoping is that this is the time they actually come true and the team finally comes off the list as one that has never reached the ultimate goal.
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