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I'm sure he'll keep the ship afloat for a short (important period) but he's not a personnel guy....Not in the old school way like a Ron Wolf or someone with that type of background...
I'd really like to see someone who lives by CHP (Can He Play) and just has that football player dna radar...Plus he (or she) is going to have to good people situation skills to work across the org.
Vikings have been bitten by shortfalls in both capacities. Hope they get this right, cause its bigger situation then who to choose at #18.
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After firing Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Vikings owners named longtime team executive Rob Brzezinski their interim general manager, meaning he’ll oversee much of the offseason, including the draft.
This raises two important questions:
Is Brzezinski the right person to oversee important personnel decisions?
Could Brzezinski win the general manager job by performing well this winter and spring?
Brzezinski’s title is vice president of football operations. His specialty is managing the salary cap, and he’s very good at that.
He’s well-liked and respected throughout the organization and by people outside the organization who know him. If anyone in the organization was going to be able to rule by building consensus, it would be Brzezinski.
He does not, however, come from a scouting background, and most NFL general managers build their expertise and their résumés by proving themselves in the realm of player evaluation.
There are two somewhat-recent situations among Minnesota professional teams that could provide insights into the challenges Brzezinski will face.
Former Vikings General Manager Jeff Diamond joined the team as a public relations assistant in the mid-’70s and rose methodically through the organization. He was not a scout by trade, but he learned how to run the team by working in different departments. Like Brzezinski, he became proficient in salary cap maneuvering.
In 1998, Diamond’s best team lost in the NFC championship game. He was named NFL executive of the year, and he left to become president of the Tennessee Titans, who in Diamond’s first season came within a yard of winning the Super Bowl.
“Rob came in the door with the Vikings in 1999, when I was on my way out,’’ Diamond said. ”I’ve known Rob for a long time. We have a good relationship. And I think he will be a candidate for the job.
“Back when I was a GM, there were more people who had my type of background, who came up through operations, through contract work, salary cap work, negotiations and running the organization as a whole, managing all of the departments.
“One thing that fans don’t necessarily get is how many different areas there are in an organization like the Vikings, how many things you have to manage. It’s not just player evaluation, although that is an important piece.’’
Diamond was known for friendly collaboration with his employees and players. “But someone has to break the tie, and that’s your job,” Diamond said. ”I believe that we almost always reached consensus on our biggest decisions.’’
Brzezinski’s profile is similar to Diamond’s.
There was another relatively recent example of a local team hiring someone who wasn’t a player or personnel evaluator. When Terry Ryan resigned as Twins general manager in 2007, the Twins were a model franchise, having fought off contraction in 2001, reached the ALCS in 2002 and reached the playoffs in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 despite a relatively low payroll.
Assistant general manager Bill Smith replaced Ryan. Smith’s strengths were in facilities and business management. He was hired largely so the Twins could keep Ryan’s lieutenants in place.
Smith played a large role in designing Target Field and the Twins’ spring training facility in Fort Myers and was known for his obsessive work ethic.
The Twins fired Smith after the 2011 season. His résumé wasn’t bad — the Twins made the playoffs, or at least a Game 163, in 2008, 2009 and 2010. But the 2011 season exposed a severe lack of major league-ready young talent, especially in the pitching department, that would make the team uncompetitive for years.
If Brzezinski is asked only to shepherd the Vikings for a few months, he’s well-positioned to do good work. If he’s going to be a long-term general manager, he’ll have to quickly figure out which personnel experts he can trust and how much influence he should allow head coach Kevin O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores to have.
STRIB
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