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RS_Express · (This post was last modified: 01-31-2026, 01:30 AM by RS_Express.)

Well damn, I skip this board one day and come back to a mushroom cloud.

With his draft record I'm not going to complain about his exit. My question is: If we still have the same scouting department and Grigson, will changing the GM help the draft any?

Don't anyone DARE say "It can't ..." (you know the rest but keep your damn mouths shut Tongue

)

StickierBuns · (This post was last modified: 01-31-2026, 05:23 AM by StickierBuns.)

(01-30-2026, 03:58 PM)hogjowlsjohnny Wrote: I read that as KOC will have a much bigger role in player acquisition.

Zero doubt about this, no matter who the new GM is.

The Wilfs really, REALLY like KOC. Take that to the bank.

(01-30-2026, 07:23 PM)MAD GAINZ Wrote: This makes sense. I heard in the off-season that KOC was willing to put his career on the line for Sam Darnold running it back with us to give JJ McCarthy more time after missing all his rookie season. KOC was overruled since the FO wanted to proceed with a QB on a rookie contract.

As far as tensions go... Grigson is an alpha but not a great talent evaluator IMO. I'm sure his style and Kwesi clashed. Then look at the relationship between Assistant HC Pettine and Flores. Oil and water. I'm sure these relationships are what insiders are referring to with "tension" in the organization.

JJ losing all that weight scared the shit out of the coaches....but that was only because JJ took the medical advice to keep that leg immobile very seriously. KOC was no doubt torn about Uncle Sammy, big time. But Darnold made the right call for himself and that's very obvious....I think KOC was a litte naive in thinking Darnold was at all interested in another half measure of support in Minnesota when the red carpet was there in Seattle. But the Vikings drafted a QB....just a bad mix of circumstances.

(01-30-2026, 04:28 PM)comet52 Wrote: A lotta spin on behalf of KOC.

That's not what I'm getting out of it at all.

(01-30-2026, 04:12 PM)purplefaithful Wrote: Word on National Sports Radio is .....

That's your problem right there, PF lol. The only thing worse than TV or online takes are radio.....

ArizonaViking · 01-31-2026, 09:45 AM

(01-30-2026, 08:31 PM)supafreak84 Wrote: There's no ledge. I've been vindicated from all the shit I took from several on this board who fluffed poetic about this great "outside the box" Wallstreet hire when anybody who's paid attention to how the NFL actually works knew it was a shit hire that would end in disaster. Four years later....I was right, the Wilfs and several on this board were wrong, rinse and repeat..

For the record, I'm all in on McKay or Nolan Teasley from Seattle as our next GM and the sooner they come in and clean house, the better

A lot of us on this forum believed this day would eventually come as we also had the disappointments of the previous drafts and free agent signings. I guess we weren't as vocal and critical of the situation to the extreme you sometimes take it. But none the less, we felt changes needed to happen to right this viking ship.
This is not a knock on you, everyone expresses their disappointments in different ways.

MaroonBells · 01-31-2026, 09:53 AM

(01-30-2026, 09:09 PM)hogjowlsjohnny Wrote:
It was a traditional system. The coach would collaberate and make suggestions, but the GM made the decisions.

Everything's based on the team's draft board, which is typically a collaborative effort. But no one's ever going to convince me that KOC had nothing to do with the scouting and ultimate selection of JJ McCarthy. The idea that Kwesi went rogue on that pick is absurd.

StickierBuns · (This post was last modified: 01-31-2026, 10:04 AM by StickierBuns.)

(01-31-2026, 09:53 AM)MaroonBells Wrote: Everything's based on the team's draft board, which is typically a collaborative effort. But no one's ever going to convince me that KOC had nothing to do with the scouting and ultimate selection of JJ McCarthy. The idea that Kwesi went rogue on that pick is absurd.

Totally agree. It is absurd. I think when its all said and done, the truth will be KOC was/is a big JJM fan. But there's some nuance to that along the way.

p.s. There's an account on X called CrakRok.....he shoots down a lot of bullshit rumors and the few times he chimes in with inside info before the fact, he's been spot on...and not just the NFL. He says that JJ is going to be QB1 in 2026 and KOC is behind him. Take it for what its worth.

Zanary · 01-31-2026, 10:14 AM

(01-31-2026, 09:57 AM)StickierBuns Wrote: Totally agree. It is absurd. I think when its all said and done, the truth will be KOC was/is a big JJM fan. But there's some nuance to that along the way.

p.s. There's an account on X called CrakRok.....he shoots down a lot of bullshit rumors and the few times he chimes in with inside info before the fact, he's been spot on...and not just the NFL. He says that JJ is going to be QB1 in 2026 and KOC is behind him. Take it for what its worth.

I think the same, and the games after his return certainly showed progress. He needs to beef up, find ways to take less abuse, and get the mechanics improving.

As his teammates have called out his "dawg" tendencies, I believe he'll attack this offseason fiercely. That's good, because he'll need to.

I'm not going to mourn Kwesi's departure, but I will remain curious over which players/approaches were really in him vs collaborative efforts. I almost don't care about the Sam thing, really, because he wasn't gonna stay for just another year...and we were going to play the highest-drafted QB in our history before too long.

Regardless what happens next weekend, the people wailing over Sam need to recognize that...and get the f*** over it.

My hope is that the FO and KOC/Flores are going to work VERY hard to make this an impressive draft and offseason, get the Kwesi news out of the spotlight by simply making good moves/decisions, and utilize all the brain power they can get to make the coming season among our best. We should still have the talent, but everyone from KOC to JJM to the janitorial staff needs to be aware that everyone's on the clock.

purplefaithful · (This post was last modified: 01-31-2026, 10:22 AM by purplefaithful.)

(01-30-2026, 07:23 PM)MAD GAINZ Wrote: This makes sense. I heard in the off-season that KOC was willing to put his career on the line for Sam Darnold running it back with us to give JJ McCarthy more time after missing all his rookie season. KOC was overruled since the FO wanted to proceed with a QB on a rookie contract.

As far as tensions go... Grigson is an alpha but not a great talent evaluator IMO. I'm sure his style and Kwesi clashed. Then look at the relationship between Assistant HC Pettine and Flores. Oil and water. I'm sure these relationships are what insiders are referring to with "tension" in the organization.

^^^

I dont know how plugged in the sports is locally in MN? But this is what they were reporting last night...

No love lost between KAM and KOC and the coach wanted to re-sign Darnold and give JJM more time to incubate.

I'm beginning to suspect strongly that both of these were true.

(01-31-2026, 01:23 AM)RS_Express Wrote: Well damn, I skip this board one day and come back to a mushroom cloud.

With his draft record I'm not going to complain about his exit. My question is: If we still have the same scouting department and Grigson, will changing the GM help the draft any?

Don't anyone DARE say "It can't ..." (you know the rest but keep your damn mouths shut )

Grigson is Dead Man Walking...If he wasn't he'd be running the draft this year and not Brez

StickierBuns · (This post was last modified: 01-31-2026, 10:23 AM by StickierBuns.)

(01-31-2026, 10:19 AM)purplefaithful Wrote: ^^^

I dont know how plugged in the sports is locally in MN? But this is what they were reporting last night...

No love lost between KAM and KOC and the coach wanted to re-sign Darnold and give JJM more time to incubate.

I'm beginning to suspect strongly that both of these were true.

But they would have had to make a major commitment to Darnold from a length of contract perspective....and why would Minnesota sign him to a 3 year deal? And why would Darnold take anything less? That's why that line of thinking from a rumor perspective doesn't wash with me.
No way Uncle Sammy was taking a one year deal after the season he had. They wanted to give JJ 3 more years to 'incubate', lol? Makes no sense IMO.

JR44 · 01-31-2026, 10:24 AM

I had always thought KOC since he is the most qualified to evaluate QBs made the call on the QB decision. If Kwesi overrode his evaluation, I could see that creating tension and leading up to this.

Wilfs are ultimately to blame, this is all on them for hiring someone who had no qualifications for the position. The fact that it took Darnold to make the Super Bowl for it to finally get tho this point is another sign of how dysfunctional this organization is.

I do not think KOC likes JJM, there often seemed to be some frustrations from some of his comments about his mechanics and it really spilled over when JJM did the defiant TD dance well before the end zone and then openly spoke about going against his coaches wishes. I fully expect someone else to be starting opening day.

purplefaithful · (This post was last modified: 01-31-2026, 10:31 AM by purplefaithful.)

(01-31-2026, 09:57 AM)StickierBuns Wrote: Totally agree. It is absurd. I think when its all said and done, the truth will be KOC was/is a big JJM fan. But there's some nuance to that along the way.

p.s. There's an account on X called CrakRok.....he shoots down a lot of bullshit rumors and the few times he chimes in with inside info before the fact, he's been spot on...and not just the NFL. He says that JJ is going to be QB1 in 2026 and KOC is behind him. Take it for what its worth.

I wouldn't doubt that at this point...But I'm not sure thats where KOC was last year at this time. Makes perfect sense to me he'd want to find a way to run it back with Darnold one more year. He knew McCarthy wasn't ready yet is my guess.

I'm believing more and more there was no luv lost between KAM/KOC, the QB was probably just the last straw and tip of that spear.

(01-31-2026, 10:23 AM)StickierBuns Wrote: But they would have had to make a major commitment to Darnold from a length of contract perspective....and why would Minnesota sign him to a 3 year deal? And why would Darnold take anything less? That's why that line of thinking from a rumor perspective doesn't wash with me.
No way Uncle Sammy was taking a one year deal after the season he had. They wanted to give JJ 3 more years to 'incubate', lol? Makes no sense IMO.

They could have tagged him?

Not the Vikings way as it harms their brand with players and agents. But it could have been a lever to use.