Thread: Chris Mortensen article - ya sure, ya betcha....

Wilf needs outside help to right ship

By Chris Mortensen
ESPN Insider

Two cents worth, around the NFL:

It's not as simple as Randy Moss. The Minnesota Vikings look like a dreadful 0-2 team for a few reasons.

Mike Tice either should have been fired by former owner Red McCombs or given a minimum two-year extension at the end of the 2004 season. A one-year contract severely limited Tice's options to replace valued offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, who bolted for the Miami Dolphins and an $800,000-plus annual salary. Nobody wants to work for a lame-duck coach.

Tice erred when he assigned line coach Steve Loney the job of play calling. Quarterback coach Rich Olson should have been given the controls.

Even with Tice (a former line coach) helping Loney, the Vikings' line is awful so far. By now, we understand just how valuable injured Pro Bowl center Matt Birk was to the Vikings' offense, not just physically but from a leadership and football intelligence standpoint.

There's also the bigger picture to consider.

New Vikings owner Zygi Wilf needs to immediately hire a true football consultant to assist him in his transition. He needs an outside set of experienced eyes, not unlike what Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank did when he hired former Chargers and Redskins GM Bobby Beathard to assess the organization shortly after Blank purchased the team.

Ron Wolf, the former Packers GM, is a logical candidate, although Wolf has been content in retirement and might feel treasonous in helping a division rival of his former team.

Wilf always could see if Beathard wants another go-around as a consultant, although I truly doubt it. If not Beathard, then perhaps his former lieutenant, Billy Devaney, who is working for CBS' NFL pregame show and still is very active in assessing the league.

Ron Hill, the former Falcons VP of personnel, put many of Atlanta's current players in place, including orchestrating the trade for Michael Vick. He also grew close to Beathard during that period of consultation. But because he was a Dan Reeves man, Hill was facing the inevitable termination and finally was let go this summer. An inopportune time for Hill could be an opportunity for Wilf.

Rick Spielman, currently working as an analyst right here on ESPN.com, is another worthwhile candidate. He's been tainted by what happened during his last stop with the Miami Dolphins, but he had always carried a solid reputation, not to mention that he just carries himself well, period.

Former 49ers and Browns VP Dwight Clark also is a bright guy who has experienced the heights of greatness in San Francisco and the pits of transition in Cleveland. There has to be some knowledge worth tapping into with Clark.

Why not check in with an ex-Viking executive like Jeff Diamond, a vastly underrated front-office leader?

Last but not least, Wilf also should call John Wooten, a savvy, veteran personnel man of the NFL who also is in semi-retirement. Wooten's last stop was with the Baltimore Ravens before he rode into the sunset with a Super Bowl ring. Wooten is well connected in league circles and has Yoda-like wisdom.

It's not that the Vikings don't have some capable people on board. But at a time like this, you need an outside set of eyes, somebody who isn't influenced by current relationships. You need an auditor to help you reset your organization before taking, hopefully, several steps forward.

Wilf, I'm sure, has already thought of this.

Oldman he does make some valid points and I would be thrilled with Dwight Clark being our GM because he knows how a front office should run and he can get us a coach in here that is not overmatched every week.

No set of 'outside eyes' or consultant is going to make a huge difference if the players don't execute and play well together.

Jeff Diamond who put us in one of the worst cap situations in the league, the guy who went to the Titans and screwed up there front office.

Let's get him!

"JDogg926" wrote:

No set of 'outside eyes' or consultant is going to make a huge difference if the players don't execute and play well together.

I agree! Granted coaches call the schemes but the players have to execute and that is exactly the opposite of what the vikes are doing this year. Go get help if that's what you want, but maybe help on the field would be more fitting (i.e o-lineman!)

linehan may have been insturmental to Culpepper's success, if you remember billick was the for cunningham great year next year he's gone cunningham sucks.

I think that Mort has a lot of valuable points, it would not hurt the organization to at least talk to any of these people. I definitely think the idea of an outside set of eyes makes a lot of sense.

Yeah,I have to kinda agree with him on most points.However i think our scouting department is pretty freaking good!

Heck, we got one of the best football minds in the country sitting in the Vikings office already -- Bud Grant! He's been keeping up with things. Why the heck would we need to hire another "old fart?"

No matter how you slice it, Mike "Bargain Basement" Tice needs to go. He will never be a coach that will take a team to the Superbowl. I think Mort's article is first rate. I'd like to see Dwight Clark run the show from the front office if I had my choice.