Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

Foge Fazio
Emmitt Thomas
Willie Shaw
George O'Leary
Ted Cottrell
Mike Tomlin

What do all of those men have in common?  They're six of the seven men that have served as the Vikings' defensive coordinator over the last eight seasons.  The seventh is the man that currently holds that position for the Beloved Purple, Leslie Frazier.  Of all seven of those men, only Cottrell lasted more than one season in Minneapolis, serving as DC in 2004 and 2005.

So, I'm not sure whether the following should surprise me or anybody else, but here it is anyway.

As I was driving back from doing some shopping on base this morning, I was listening to ESPN Radio and Chris Mortensen was doing a pre-taped segment of news from around the league.  He mentioned something about Tony Dungy possibly retiring at the end of the Colts' season, which occurred a couple of hours ago when they lost in the AFC Divisional Playoffs to the San Diego Chargers.  Mort then went on to say that if that were the case, one of the leading candidates to replace Dungy would be. . .

I hope you're sitting down. . .

MINNESOTA VIKINGS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LESLIE FRAZIER.

Now, I said the other day that Frazier was going to South Florida to interview for the Dolphins' head coaching job, and said that it was probably to fulfill Rooney Rule requirements.  That was largely because it was being rumored that new Dolphins personnel boss Bill Parcells had already made an offer to Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator Tony Soprano Sparano.  But Frazier actually has ties to the Colts, as he served as their secondary coach in 2006 before accepting the job as Minnesota's defensive coordinator in 2007.

Now, this is bordering on the verge of being ridiculous.  What is it about this team that makes them unable to keep a decent defensive coordinator for more than one season?  In some cases, yes, they're going on to better things (O'Leary taking over at the University of Central Florida, and Tomlin taking the job in Pittsburgh).

Now, Frazier probably deserves to be a head coach in the National Football League somewhere at some point, and if the Colts or Dolphins or any other team wants to offer him that opportunity, it would be hard to be angry or disappointed with him for taking it.  But it would be nice for this team to be able to retain a decent DC for more than one season.

If Frazier were to leave, I'm not sure who the Vikings would replace him with. . .whether it would be someone in-house or someone from another team.  One would think that the Vikings' job would be an attractive one, with a run defense that would be nearly impossible to screw up, the best pair of defensive tackles in the league, a good, young corps of linebackers, and lots of exciting potential everywhere you look.

Whoever the defensive coordinator is for the Vikings in 2008, I hope they can continue the improvement that was shown this past season.  More news on this story as it comes out. . .unfortunately, I can't find a link at the moment.  As I said, I heard it on ESPN Radio earlier today.

Continue enjoying your Sunday, folks.