Wilf: "He (Frazier) is our coach"

[dead_poet]

Zygi Wilf expresses complete confidence in Leslie Frazier and says he will continue coaching #Vikings.

Sid Hartman on Twitter

At halftime of the Vikings' 21-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Vikings owner and chairman Zygi Wilf expressed complete confidence in Leslie Frazier and said he would continue coaching the Vikings.

When asked when they plan to announce who will coach the Vikings next year, Wilf said, "He is our coach," referring to Frazier.

As Wilf spoke, he gave every indication that he had confidence in Frazier's coaching ability and that there wasn't any question that Frazier, who has one year left on his contract, will coach the Vikings next season. While Wilf didn't mention Frazier getting an extension, that often happens when a coach has only one year left on his contract.

When Mark Wilf, the team president, was asked whether he has been happy with the progress the team has made this year, he remarked that the coaching staff has done a good job with a young team and said he saw no reason why Frazier wouldn't return next season.

The Wilfs are very happy with the job General Manager Rick Spielman has done, and Spielman gets along great with Frazier, so why make a change? The team has already made a great improvement over last year's 3-13 record, going 7-6 with a chance to make the playoffs, so that is positive.

This is the ninth year the Wilfs have owned the team. They have replaced two coaches working for them in that time: Mike Tice, head coach from 2002 to 2005, and Brad Childress, head coach from 2005 to 2010. But they have a good relationship with Frazier and aren't going to make another coaching change.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikin ... ml?refer=y

[Cliff]

This is the ninth year the Wilfs have owned the team.

That just doesn't feel right. Time flies.

[Tark10]

I believe the coaching staff should remain intact as well. Next year Percy will be back. Draft a speedy wide out AND sign one big name free agent receiver. The future will look much brighter..

[Dark]

I agree that we have made great progress from last year, but just imagine how good we could be doing with a great head coach. We could be leading the division!

[Mothman]

Thanks for the link.

Keeping Frazier as the HC next year is absolutely the right move. He's done a good job this season and he and Spielman appear to have the team moving in the right direction. The big question is: will he get a contract extension and, if so, when?

Of course, that opens up a number of other questions.

[dead_poet]

I agree that we have made great progress from last year, but just imagine how good we could be doing with a great head coach. We could be leading the division!

With the consensus around the country the Vikings would realistically win between 3-6 games, I think he's exceeded a lot of expectations and put in place a philosophy that can work. I don't know how many more games a different coach could have realistically won given the state of our roster (QB/WRs).

It's been noted play several players recently that the locker room has been shockingly calm, despite some tough losses. That's a credit to Frazier's presence as well as the quality of players that have been drafted. That and really no off-field distractions/arrests (Harvin mini-drama aside), which also has been refreshing.

Nobody really expected the Vikings to be talked about as a possible playoff contender in December. Unfortunately ending the season on a high note (actually MAKING the playoffs) is unlikely, but I think he deserves another season to continue improving and installing his philosophy, preferably with a few more impact signings. Another draft class like we saw this season (coupled with a core FA signing) and this could realistically be a 10-11-win team next year. Of course, it wouldn't be Vikings football if there wasn't going to be a quarterback controversy looming.

Alan Williams seems to be doing fine in his first season, which is shaping up to be a solid selection. Hopefully he can continue to shore up the secondary (and d-line).

I still think clock management and penalties remain an issue, and it actually surprises me a little bit how penalized the team has been under his watch. Just dumb, killer penalties. Of course, I think that would happen no matter who the coach is. It's part of being a Viking: committing at least one stupid penalty/game.

Is he perfect? No. But he's shown he is making progress. The players have bought into Frazier too. It makes sense he should get another opportunity.

[Mothman]

With the consensus around the country the Vikings would realistically win between 3-6 games, I think he's exceeded a lot of expectations and put in place a philosophy that can work. I don't know how many more games a different coach could have realistically won given the state of our roster (QB/WRs).

I doubt the record would be significantly better with the same roster and a different coach. It's one of those things we can speculate about but there's just never any way to know for sure.

I still think clock management and penalties remain an issue, and it actually surprises me a little bit how penalized the team has been under his watch. Just dumb, killer penalties. Of course, I think that would happen no matter who the coach is. It's part of being a Viking: committing at least one stupid penalty/game.

LOL! A lot of the penalties have just been stupid mental errors and I'm just not sure a coach can do much about that beyond reinforcing fundamentals and disciplined play during the week, in both meetings and practice. In the end, if a player is going to foolishly hit someone late, jump offsides, hold, etc. there's not much the coach can do about it. I used to believe otherwise but now I think there's a heavy correlation between penalties, experience and talent/matchups. Players tend to commit more penalties when they're overmatched. I'm betting as the talent and experience level of the team improves, we'll see the penalties go down.

I've also decided clock management is a very subjective area and that there's not a fanbase in the league that doesn't think their coach has to do a better job of managing the clock. I think Frazier has made a few weird choices in that area but overall, I have very little problem with the way he's handled the clock.

Is he perfect? No. But he's shown he is making progress. The players have bought into Frazier too. It makes sense he should get another opportunity.

That buy-in is big and it's importance shouldn't be underestimated. I'm glad you brought that up. As you said, he's making progress and the team is too.

[PurpleMustReign]

Well, hang on a minute... this seems like the dreaded "Vote of Confidence" from the owner. I wouldn't be shocked if Wilf has something else planned for Frasier at the end of the season.

[losperros]

I agree with both of you about that. The team has bought into Frazier and his methods, and it would send the wrong message to the team to remove Frazier as the head coach. Does he need to improve on some things? Probably, yes. But he does have the team improving and that's despite some big limitations, including not having a passing game and several talent gaps still present in the roster. And those things can be dealt with during the next draft and free agency.

[mondry]

I am very pleased with Frazier so far. He inherited one of the WORST teams in the league talent wise and not only that, it was in absolute horrible shape salary cap wise. Oh and to make matters worse, Joe Webb was literally the ONLY qb under contract.

Now he has the team 7-6 with an outside chance to TRIPLE last years win total.

Good grief, it's like if you don't win the superbowl in your first or second year with the team ( coach, QB, GM) they should all be replaced!

I really believe the turnaround from this year to last year is miraculous, this team is very close to being a legit playoff contender and that's with Ponder. If they could add one more impact player on offense and one more impact player on defense with maybe a few small upgrades sprinkled here and there they'll be just that.

[joe h]

Get rid of Musgrave after this season, and if Frazier and Spielman cannot produce a playoff team next year, get rid of them. Childress built a playoff team in three years.

[PurpleKoolaid]

First off, the Wilf's know nothing about the NFL or HC's. They know money. I guess its more profittable to say an idiot like Fraizer (and Childress when he has the HC) is the man and we are sticking by him. They wouldnt need to say it even is Fraizer was doing his job.

We beat a bad over-rated Bears team at home, in the Dome. Whoopie. We still have no offense except for our demi-god, AD. Fraizer's right hand Musgrave is a joke of an OC, trying to get Ponder to throw the ball, and yet not letting him throw the ball. Someone explain that to me please.

1 decent defenive game and now we got Fraizer as HC of the year here lol. Luckily we have a safety thats a ball hawk, and a secondary that can make some plays on the ball. They cant tackle (other then Winfield) or cover though. Along with our LBs. But we did finally get a little pressure on the QB. And had a good blitz omg. But no, not from one of our LBs that just run into the closest D guy they can find, but by a rookie in the secondary.

Im not anymore sold on Fraizer then I am on Ponder. If you want to call a little luck on D, and ST when we needed it before as good coaching by Fraizer, I guess we just dont think alike. Now if he made a big move, and got us into the playoffs, showed the team a little spark and leader ship when we need it, I might change my mind. But hes just Childress with more hair and a personality to me.

[smoothoperator]

we double our wins in one season and you dont think frazier is good? sorry but not every team can go out and win superbowls every year, coaches like belichick are once in a lifetime. fact is, he has turned this team around and players are buying into his philosophy. making it a revolving door for coaches would only make things worse.

[Cliff]

we double our wins in one season and you dont think frazier is good? sorry but not every team can go out and win superbowls every year, coaches like belichick are once in a lifetime. fact is, he has turned this team around and players are buying into his philosophy. making it a revolving door for coaches would only make things worse.

Plus under his coaching several rookies are playing well as starters.

As far as him being the "more profitable" option all I can think is you must have not been around when McCombs was the owner. That's what a cheap owner looks like.

[dead_poet]

we double our wins in one season and you dont think frazier is good? sorry but not every team can go out and win superbowls every year, coaches like belichick are once in a lifetime. fact is, he has turned this team around and players are buying into his philosophy. making it a revolving door for coaches would only make things worse.

Don't you know? When we win, it's luck and a couple of good players (not named Ponder). When we lose, it's only Ponder, Frazier, Williams & Musgrave's fault. Oh, and dome wins don't count as much.

And our secondary can't tackle or cover, except they can make some plays on the ball. But they suck. Except for some of them. But that has nothing to do with coaching, that's on them, probably getting lucky. But when they make bad plays, it's because of horrible coaching, duh. And our LBs are horrible. They can't generate pressure (bad players, horrible coaching), except when they do (luck, not a big deal, really) and only TACKLE (like that's important).

Our formula is pretty simple if you really don't think about it: Win = luck, Loss = horrible coaching + Ponder.

Oh and after a 3-13 season you're not a good coach unless you make the playoffs the next year. And because you can't see/hear Frazier's spark and leadership, it doesn't exist.

Really, it's not that hard to understand.