Leslie Frazier is spending the week evaluating his coach staff, going through the communications process from the season and reviewing what worked and what didn't. In the end, he could decide on several changes.
Let's offer our own top-down assessment of the staff, based on the production of their units and other (often less visible) areas.
Head coach Leslie Frazier: Frazier himself may be the easiest to make an evaluation about since he is front and center with almost everything.
As the head coach, his responsibilities vary greatly. On game days, his decisions are out there for everyone to see, and that may be where he was weakest this year.
The questions started early, and there were several instances along the way to add to the criticisms. His game-day decisions were sometimes head-scratchers, like going for a failed fourth down in the fourth quarter with a 20-17 lead and in field-goal position in Week 3 against the Detroit Lions and then handing it off to Toby Gerhart with Adrian Peterson on the sideline. The decision to go for the first down is on the head coach, but putting the ball in Gerhart's hands was likely the call of the offensive coordinator. Kicker Ryan Longwell made a 49-yard field goal to cap a later drive and send it to overtime, where the Vikings lost the first of eight NFC North games.
There were other questionable in-game decisions along the way, as there always are in the head-coaching hot seat, all the way down to the decision to let the Denver Broncos run down the clock inside the 10-yard line before kicking a tie-breaking field goal with no time remaining instead of letting them score and hoping the Vikings offense – or Percy Harvin on a kickoff return – could answer with more than a minute remaining.
Perhaps more puzzling were some of the personnel decisions, some of which are believed to be on Frazier. From the start of training camp, he made some bold moves by releasing left tackle Bryant McKinnie, which was the right decision given McKinnie's lack of professional pride in allowing himself to become so woefully out of shape. Critics of the move often forget that the Vikings were in a salary-cap pinch at the time and McKinnie was being paid like one of the best tackles in the game (which he wasn't).
Another personnel problem was that quarterback Donovan McNabb didn't exactly report in top condition either, and when he couldn't connect on simple passes, Frazier stuck with him too long. The move to acquire McNabb is largely pinned on Frazier and may have been the start of ownership rethinking the personnel power structure.
Then there were the cases of receiver Bernard Berrian, who was able to keep his roster spot despite being another underproducing salary-cap sucker. Eventually, Berrian's aloof attitude off the field, and sometimes on it, got him released.
But the most controversial personnel decision was the Vikings putting Chris Cook back on the salary rolls before he needed to come off a team-imposed suspension for being arrested on two counts of domestic felony assault. It's a guarded secret whose decision it was to bring him back on the roster before necessary, but it didn't sit well with some of Cook's teammates that he was collecting a paycheck, taking up a roster spot and not even allowed at Winter Park.
All of those aforementioned questions have to be balanced with the fact Frazier is well-liked around the facility and by his players. It shouldn't go overlooked that the team never did give up on the season despite the playoffs being a pipe dream after the bye. Even with the Cook decision causing some tension, the locker room never became a poison of personalities and all but Cedric Griffin were willing to answer questions without a surly attitude.
With the lockout and a rookie quarterback stacking the odds against him, Frazier is being given another chance in 2012, and it's the right call. The players have had enough upheaval over the previous three years. If Frazier can't get it done in his second season, then a move likely will be made.
Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave: Fans panned his offense, but, according to sources, the scheme is well-liked at Winter Park, even if the personnel isn't yet in place to run it smoothly. Without a suitable and consistent offensive line, the three quarterbacks who started during the season all struggled to find adequate protection, rendering premature any sweeping judgments about them or the offense. Personnel upgrades have to start with an offensive tackle, which likely would allow Charlie Johnson to compete for a guard spot, and a receiver. If those changes, and the re-signing of tight end Visanthe Shiancoe or another pass catcher at the position, take place, the offense should look markedly better in 2012. Harvin said the offense was far from fully installed, even at the end of the season, because of the lockout sapping players of offseason practices. Familiarity with the playbook was still in progress as the year ended. With a full offseason of immersion, there should be more variety and better execution of plays in 2012. Whether that mercifully puts an end to the “Blazer” package with backup quarterback Joe Webb remains to be seen.
Defensive coordinator Fred Pagac: Though injuries were a legitimate concern – much of the secondary was ravaged by one ailment after another – Pagac isn't given the same pass as Musgrave when it comes to installation of the scheme because he ran a carryover defense from Frazier's days at coordinator. Pagac showed some creativity by dropping defensive end Jared Allen into coverage in early games, but eventually he had to get more basic because of a lack of trust in his replacement secondary to handle man coverage without assistance. There were communication breakdowns between defensive backs that led to TDs in the second half of the season, and the aggressiveness of the linebackers was snuffed out throughout the year. Eventually, Frazier became more involved in the defense, and it remains to be seen whether Pagac will keep his job.
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer: The trickle-down effect of injuries kept Priefer on his toes all season as he tried to mix and match personnel. The result was some inconsistent coverage units – at times looking like the best in the league and other times having players get regularly caught out of position to allow big returns. The return game was decent, with Marcus Sherels improving on kickoffs and making better decisions on which punts to field and which ones to let go. Sherels doesn't show much straight-ahead explosiveness on kick returns, but his shiftiness and ball security are solid on punt returns. Imagine what the return game would have looked like if Priefer were allowed to use Harvin as much as he wanted. It might have ended up producing a couple more wins given Harvin's two kickoff returns of more than 100 yards in only 16 attempts.
Offensive line coach Jeff Davidson: From the players to the front office, Davidson got strong reviews all season long. Personnel is considered a big issue with the offensive line, but the schemes and techniques are being received much better than the ones the previous duo of offensive line coaches used.
Quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson: Johnson is well-regarded and correctly predicted the struggles of Christian Ponder before they even started. Johnson is an even-keeled teacher who has overseen the development of young quarterbacks before and should be back to see through the Ponder project.
Running backs coach James Saxon: There is little doubt Adrian Peterson enjoyed working with Saxon more than Eric Bieniemy, who pushed Peterson's buttons constantly. Saxon is the quiet type, whereas Bieniemy was always a bundle of high-demand energy. The proof of Saxon's worth may come in the development of Gerhart on the heels of Peterson's injury.
Tight ends coach Jimmie Johnson: Johnson is constantly working with his tight ends on adjusting to the ball and appears to be well-liked, but with an emphasis on the tight end position in Musgrave's offense, it will be interesting to see whether Johnson, a Brad Childress-era holdover, survives.
Wide receivers coach George Stewart: Another Childress holdover, Stewart didn't have much to work with behind Harvin and with the injury to Michael Jenkins. The receiving unit was paper thin most of the season, and Berrian hasn't been adequately heard from since 2008. To Stewart's credit is the blocking of his receivers; but getting separation with them on pass routes is an issue.
Defensive line coach Karl Dunbar: Despite losing Ray Edwards and Pat Williams to free agency and retirement, respectively, the pass rush didn't suffer a bit. However, stopping the run is becoming more of an issue, and the Vikings will likely have to develop a true nose tackle to complete the defensive line.
Linebackers coach Mike Singletary: With Pagac's promotion to defensive coordinator came the hiring of Singletary, a former teammate of Frazier's from their days together with the Chicago Bears in the 1980s. Singletary was also given the title of special assistant to the head coach. Although he rides the linebackers hard, none of them had the “splash” plays they were looking for in 2011. Will his friendship with Frazier be enough to keep him around, especially if a new defensive coordinator is hired, or would Singletary, a former head coach with the 49ers, get that job? Those decisions should be coming in the next week.
Defensive backs coach Joe Woods: Perhaps no one had a tougher time trying to mask injuries than Woods. Woods wasn't given any real tried and true safeties to work with, and his best cornerbacks – Antoine Winfield and Chris Cook – missed the second half of the season. Even so, Woods couldn't get Griffin to play the prescribed techniques until late in the season, and that created problems for the entire pass defense.
Despite the promotion of Rick Spielman to general manager, Frazier maintains control of his coaching staff. Although injuries played a factor, he will almost have to make some changes in his staff if he wants to be viewed as a coach who can make the tough decisions with his colleagues, just as he did with the players he let go after the lockout was lifted.
