Tony Dungy
Now that Brad Childress is gone for good, Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf has a decision to make. He could let interim coach Leslie Frazier take over the team for 2011 and beyond or he could bring in someone from the outside.
While no names have been mentioned as to who potential choices would be, one recognizable name has already turned them down.
Per NFL.com, former Buccaneers & Colts head coach and current analyst on NBC’s Football Night In America, Tony Dungy says he’s not interested in joining the Vikings as either the head coach or high-level executive.
Dungy spoke with the Associated Press and told them that he’s content with his job and enjoys the free time he has to watch his son play football at Oregon.
It’s easy to speculate, but if he were interested in coming back to football, I’d think Minnesota would be one of his first choices. He definitely has the connections — from playing quarterback for the University of Minnesota to serving as the Vikings defensive coordinator in 1998 — so the move would make too much sense.
In the meantime, Dungy plans to help Frazier out in any way he can; and that means communicating frequently with him over the duration of the season.
“No question, Tony and I will be talking often in the days and weeks to come,” Frazier said.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s great and all that Dungy will “help” Frazier in anyway he can, but honestly who cares? If Frazier can’t coach his team, then why in the world was he ever an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator? Oh well, since the season is pretty much over, it would be nice to see the Vikings at least win a few games which entails prepping during the off season, hopefully drafting a qb during the draft and coming out fresh and ready for revenge next year!
The last thing the Vikings need is another rookie quarterback. There’s no way in hell you wait another two or three years for the dude to develop. This is a team that just needs a plug-in system QB who doesn’t make mistakes. (Think Trent Dilfer.) This team has a solid running game, a vaunted defense and has a great receiving corp. Tarvaris Jackson needs to take the reigns, now.
Who said a quarterback needs two or three years before he could lead a playoff contending team? Like you said, they already possess a great running game, elite defense (though could use a few reinforcements), and two young, Pro Bowl caliber receivers. Not exactly a terrible situation to be thrown into.
I agree that someone other than Favre needs to given a shot at this point, but I don’t think Jackson is franchise QB material. Quality backup to have, not such a great weekly starter.
If Minnesota used the high draft pick they’re (likely) going to get, and invested it into the right QB prospect (Luck, Locker, Mallett?), they could/should get into the playoffs and beyond. Think Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez.