Recap The HC Candidates
While Kwesi Adofo-Mensah surely took a few minutes to relish his new gig, agreeing Wednesday to become the Vikings’ next general manager, there isn’t much downtime for the 40-year-old.
Adofo-Mensah’s first task as GM is his most important one. In the next week and a half or so, he’ll play a big part in selecting the 10th head coach in franchise history, a search that’s expected to kick into high gear Thursday.
The Vikings have already interviewed eight candidates, partly because league rules prohibit teams from initiating contact with a coach after the divisional round of the playoffs until that coach’s team loses or the Super Bowl is over.
While Adofo-Mensah will be the one to sign off on any coaching search, a source said the Vikings have emphasized leadership and collaborative traits from the candidates, valuing that more than extensive experience. The Wilfs, the longtime owners of the franchise, have repeatedly said that they want to mold the Vikings after the Pittsburgh Steelers, so they are now in search of their version of Mike Tomlin. The Steelers hired Tomlin from the Vikings when he had relatively little coaching experience (he was Minnesota’s defensive coordinator for only one year), but the Steelers valued his leadership, and success has followed.
The Vikings’ search committee tried to establish contact and conduct preliminary interviews with candidates that their top general manager options would want, but Adofo-Mensah isn’t necessarily limited to the eight already interviewed.
So given that and the urgency of the search, let’s look at the eight known candidates, plus a few others who could enter the fold. (The candidates are listed in alphabetical order.)
Todd BowlesAge: 58
Current job: Buccaneers defensive coordinator
Breakdown: Bowles helped turn the Bucs into one of the top defenses in the league with a blitz-happy scheme that produced a Super Bowl win a year ago. He’s from a New Jersey town (Elizabeth) near Mark and Zygi Wilf’s hometown of Hillside, which is about 70 miles north of Adofo-Mensah’s hometown of Cherry Hill. Bowles’ previous head-coaching stint with the Jets from 2015 to 2018 produced a 24-40 record, though that run did include a 10-6 campaign in 2015, which was the last time the Jets posted a winning record.
The Pederson hire bothers me for one single reason, and that's Frank Reich. That Eagles offense was unpredictable and fast when Reich was the OC on the SB winning team. The next season Reich becomes the Colts HC, and Pederson and the Eagles were mediocre at best.
I'm not so sure Pederson was the brains behind that great offense of the SB team. I think it was Reich, and he's done fairly well on his own as the Colts HC too.
@"JustinTime18™" said:Choice #3.
put a purple cap on him, look up a 1967 picture of Bud Grant on the sideline and tell me what you see..
@"kmillard" said:As an avid Eagle hater (lived there and can attest to the worst fans ever having been to at least 25 Eagles games) I didn't want to give Pederson any credit because I didn't like anyone associated with them from Lurie on down. I also initially just wanted to credit anyone instead of Pederson and I have always liked Riech because he is from the Hershey/Lebanon, PA area and I followed him since his miracle with Buffalo.@"Vikergirl" said: I'm not surprised that Pederson hasn't been mentioned. He is a tool and his ending with Philly was ugly. that was more to do with a meddling owner than anything he did.But Pederson surrounded himself with one hell of a coaching staff despite crappy/intrusive ownership and executive branch. You cannot deny him that and he was able to outcoach Zimmer easily on their way to the Iggles first SB victory - ouch. He took a proven backup QB in Foles and became the best team beating the Patriots. These facts cannot be underestimated.
He should be a viable candidate for every open HC job plus he is a former QB so has that Offensive mindset that I want in our next HC.
@"minny65" said:@"kmillard" said:As an avid Eagle hater (lived there and can attest to the worst fans ever having been to at least 25 Eagles games) I didn't want to give Pederson any credit because I didn't like anyone associated with them from Lurie on down. I also initially just wanted to credit anyone instead of Pederson and I have always liked Riech because he is from the Hershey/Lebanon, PA area and I followed him since his miracle with Buffalo.@"Vikergirl" said: I'm not surprised that Pederson hasn't been mentioned. He is a tool and his ending with Philly was ugly. that was more to do with a meddling owner than anything he did.But Pederson surrounded himself with one hell of a coaching staff despite crappy/intrusive ownership and executive branch. You cannot deny him that and he was able to outcoach Zimmer easily on their way to the Iggles first SB victory - ouch. He took a proven backup QB in Foles and became the best team beating the Patriots. These facts cannot be underestimated.
He should be a viable candidate for every open HC job plus he is a former QB so has that Offensive mindset that I want in our next HC.
Was it Pederson or Reich that outcoached Zim's D? Zimmer beat Pederson in Philly the next season after Reich left, and in Minny the next season after that, IIRC.
@"HappyViking" said:@"minny65" said:@"kmillard" said:As an avid Eagle hater (lived there and can attest to the worst fans ever having been to at least 25 Eagles games) I didn't want to give Pederson any credit because I didn't like anyone associated with them from Lurie on down. I also initially just wanted to credit anyone instead of Pederson and I have always liked Riech because he is from the Hershey/Lebanon, PA area and I followed him since his miracle with Buffalo.@"Vikergirl" said: I'm not surprised that Pederson hasn't been mentioned. He is a tool and his ending with Philly was ugly. that was more to do with a meddling owner than anything he did.But Pederson surrounded himself with one hell of a coaching staff despite crappy/intrusive ownership and executive branch. You cannot deny him that and he was able to outcoach Zimmer easily on their way to the Iggles first SB victory - ouch. He took a proven backup QB in Foles and became the best team beating the Patriots. These facts cannot be underestimated.
He should be a viable candidate for every open HC job plus he is a former QB so has that Offensive mindset that I want in our next HC.
Was it Pederson or Reich that outcoached Zim's D? Zimmer beat Pederson in Philly the next season after Reich left, and in Minny the next season after that, IIRC.
Yes it was Pederson and his staff that won a SB. On the way in beating us Zimmer all but said he was outcoached and he was. If you want to just pick the whopping he gave us he also won against Tom Brady and the Patriots and multiple other teams along the way.
@"minny65" said:@"HappyViking" said:@"minny65" said:@"kmillard" said:As an avid Eagle hater (lived there and can attest to the worst fans ever having been to at least 25 Eagles games) I didn't want to give Pederson any credit because I didn't like anyone associated with them from Lurie on down. I also initially just wanted to credit anyone instead of Pederson and I have always liked Riech because he is from the Hershey/Lebanon, PA area and I followed him since his miracle with Buffalo.@"Vikergirl" said: I'm not surprised that Pederson hasn't been mentioned. He is a tool and his ending with Philly was ugly. that was more to do with a meddling owner than anything he did.But Pederson surrounded himself with one hell of a coaching staff despite crappy/intrusive ownership and executive branch. You cannot deny him that and he was able to outcoach Zimmer easily on their way to the Iggles first SB victory - ouch. He took a proven backup QB in Foles and became the best team beating the Patriots. These facts cannot be underestimated.
He should be a viable candidate for every open HC job plus he is a former QB so has that Offensive mindset that I want in our next HC.
Was it Pederson or Reich that outcoached Zim's D? Zimmer beat Pederson in Philly the next season after Reich left, and in Minny the next season after that, IIRC.
Yes it was Pederson and his staff that won a SB. On the way in beating us Zimmer all but said he was outcoached and he was. If you want to just pick the whopping he gave us he also won against Tom Brady and the Patriots and multiple other teams along the way.
They went 9-7, 9-7, then 4-11-1after Reich left Philly. I agree they had a great coaching staff in that SB season, but Pederson couldn't get another one after Reich left. Other great coaches like Belichick and Reid can have OCs or DCs plucked from them time and time again, but their team remains pretty much the same. That doesn't seem to be the case with Pederson.
I don't who the Vikes should get, but I'm not that impressed with Pederson.
@"HappyViking" said:@"minny65" said:@"HappyViking" said:@"minny65" said:@"kmillard" said:As an avid Eagle hater (lived there and can attest to the worst fans ever having been to at least 25 Eagles games) I didn't want to give Pederson any credit because I didn't like anyone associated with them from Lurie on down. I also initially just wanted to credit anyone instead of Pederson and I have always liked Riech because he is from the Hershey/Lebanon, PA area and I followed him since his miracle with Buffalo.@"Vikergirl" said: I'm not surprised that Pederson hasn't been mentioned. He is a tool and his ending with Philly was ugly. that was more to do with a meddling owner than anything he did.But Pederson surrounded himself with one hell of a coaching staff despite crappy/intrusive ownership and executive branch. You cannot deny him that and he was able to outcoach Zimmer easily on their way to the Iggles first SB victory - ouch. He took a proven backup QB in Foles and became the best team beating the Patriots. These facts cannot be underestimated.
He should be a viable candidate for every open HC job plus he is a former QB so has that Offensive mindset that I want in our next HC.
Was it Pederson or Reich that outcoached Zim's D? Zimmer beat Pederson in Philly the next season after Reich left, and in Minny the next season after that, IIRC.
Yes it was Pederson and his staff that won a SB. On the way in beating us Zimmer all but said he was outcoached and he was. If you want to just pick the whopping he gave us he also won against Tom Brady and the Patriots and multiple other teams along the way.
They went 9-7, 9-7, then 4-11-1after Reich left Philly. I agree they had a great coaching staff in that SB season, but Pederson couldn't get another one after Reich left. Other great coaches like Belichick and Reid can have OCs or DCs plucked from them time and time again, but their team remains pretty much the same. That doesn't seem to be the case with Pederson.
I don't who the Vikes should get, but I'm not that impressed with Pederson.
Pederson was handcuffed by the GM and ownership and that is very well known. I did not want to like Pederson because I hate the Eagles but I have to give the guy his due. I really like Reich as well. But just like every HC and his staff the buck stops with him and he a f'in SB for a franchise that never won..sounds similar to my team. With better support from ownership and GM I think he would be a very good choice. I also like Morris at this point and would be very happy with him. I like that he has a ton of exp on both sides of the ball, in fact, I like him more than Pederson but would not be upset with either.
@"kmillard" said:@"JustinTime18™" said:Choice #3.
put a purple cap on him, look up a 1967 picture of Bud Grant on the sideline and tell me what you see..
I can see it
The lack of urgency makes it obvious its someone who is still playing football.
In the last four years the conference championship game HC has come from the offense side of the ball as follows:
2021 4 of 4
2020 3 of 4
2019 3 of 4
2018 3 of 4
Go get O'Donnell.
@"JustinTime18™" said: In the last four years the conference championship game HC has come from the offense side of the ball as follows:2021 4 of 4
2020 3 of 4
2019 3 of 4
2018 3 of 4Go get O'Donnell.
Here's my concern. There's still a ton of teams that need a HC. Competition is going to be HIGH for O'Donnell, Ryans, etc. Let's see how the Wilfs and the KAMster do in pulling in a top HC candidate.
@"JustinTime18™" said: KAMster™Mine now
Lol
I'll expect the residuals checks in the mail then?
@"StickyBun" said:@"JustinTime18™" said: KAMster™Mine now
Lol
I'll expect the residuals checks in the mail then?
Have your people call my people
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