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Look for Vikings GM, Coach News Soon

Posted on January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by David Shama

What’s the future for Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer?

A source outside the organization told Sports Headliners that the franchise ownership will meet with both Spielman and Zimmer tomorrow (Tuesday). The source does not know what direction that meeting will take, including the possibility things remain status quo.

Another source close to the organization said the Wilf ownership is frustrated with the on-field results versus financial investment. The Vikings haven’t qualified for the NFL playoffs in two of the last three years—yet Minnesota has one of the league’s higher payrolls. Ownership has also invested extensively in stadium and practice facilities.

The second source said the only thing owners Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf are “concerned about is winning.” Although Spielman and Zimmer have worked for them since 2005 and 2014 respectively, the source said emotion including loyalty to the GM and head coach won’t drive a decision.

Both Spielman and Zimmer received contract extensions last year that are believed to give them each three more years of security. Owners expressed confidence in the two men by extending their contracts and indicated they will trust their leadership into the future. If the Wilfs wanted to make a change, though, buying out Zimmer and Spielman won’t be a deterrent, with the source saying the owners will “pay anything to win.”

The Wilfs are passionate football fans and Zygi has talked openly about winning a Super Bowl. Before buying the Vikings, he was a devoted follower of the New York Giants decades ago. Now at almost 71 years old, he has to decide if he is satisfied with the direction and leadership of his team.

The Wilfs and others in their ownership group are high level business people who make thoughtful but efficient decisions. It seems all but certain that by the end of the week Vikings fans will know whether it’s status quo or there is major change coming in the organization.

Worth Noting

John Schneider, the University of St. Thomas alum and GM of the Seahawks, might be headed elsewhere, according to an online story yesterday by the Seattle Times. Schneider has long been praised for his work in helping make the Seahawks a consistent NFL contender but he doesn’t have final say on personnel, with that authority going to head coach Pete Carroll. Reports are Schneider could fill the Lions’ GM vacancy.

Gophers fans are hoping P.J. Fleck rumors about going elsewhere don’t become an annual annoyance. Talk emerged recently that an NFL team has interest.

Richard Pitino’s Gopher basketball team probably played its best game of the season last night in defeating Ohio State at Williams Arena, 77-60. Minnesota, 10-2, plays its next two games on the road, at Michigan Wednesday and at Iowa Sunday. In road losses to Illinois and Wisconsin the Gophers have been out scored by 39 points.

The Golden Dunkers, the men’s basketball support club for the Gophers, has a campaign to secure more followers on social media like Twitter so that the organization can have a custom URL on YouTube.

Who is the best player on the Twins? MLB.com says it’s third baseman Josh Donaldson in a story today ranking the best on each AL and NL team. Donaldson, the story says, “tends to alternate healthy seasons with injury-plagued ones. It’s the healthy-season turn.”

The Twins rank No. 5 among all teams, per a listing by MLB.com on Saturday. Clubs ahead of Minnesota in the power rankings are the Dodgers, Padres, Yankees and Braves.

It could be that Twins DH extraordinaire Nelson Cruz is waiting to see if the NL will use the designated hitter in 2021. A source said a decision on the DH may come by mid-January, and that will impact the number of suitors to sign Cruz to a new contract. The Twins seem likely to be a finalist.

It’s interesting that Wild general manager Bill Guerin didn’t appoint either Zach Parise or Ryan Suter as the team’s new captain. Jared Spurgeon will have that title while Parise and Suter remain alternate captains.

College hockey prominence is back in Minnesota with four of the state’s five Division I teams ranked in any top-10 polls. The undefeated 9-0 Gophers are the nation’s best team, according to many voters.

Local sports journalists Eric Nelson and Wally Langfellow debut their daily sports talk radio show today on AM 1440-KYCR in the Twin Cities. “Ten Thousand Takes” will air Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 1 p.m.

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Dalvin Cook Joins Elite NFL Runners

Posted on November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 by David Shama

A newsy Monday notes column covering the Vikings, Gophers, Twins, Wild and more:

Dalvin Cook totaled a career-high 252 scrimmage yards (206 rushing, 46 receiving) and two rushing touchdowns in the Vikings’ 34-20 win against the Detroit Lions Sunday. He is now the third player in NFL history to have at least 225 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns in consecutive games, joining Jim Brown (1963) and Deuce McAllister (2003). Cook had 226 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) a week ago Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

Dalvin Cook (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Cook has 12 rushing touchdowns this season, tied for the fourth-most by a player in his first seven games of a season in NFL history. All-time leaders are Brown (14 rushing touchdowns in 1958) and Emmitt Smith (13 in 1995) and Priest Holmes (13 in 2004).

The Gophers’ Mohamed Ibrahim is the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced this morning. He rushed for more than 200 yards and four touchdowns for the second consecutive week in Minnesota’s win Saturday over Illinois. He tied his career high with 224 rushing yards, adding 31 yards receiving and 27 yards on kick returns to set a career high with 282 all-purpose yards. He is the second Gopher ever to have two consecutive 200-yard rushing games and the first since Terry Jackson II in 2002.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck remembered when the junior running back was on the scout team early in his college career and “never complained” about his status. “He’s earned everything he’s got,” Fleck said.

Trey Potts, Ibrahim’s back-up, was carted off the field Saturday with an apparent ankle or foot injury. Fleck speculated Potts is “day-to-day” for Friday night’s game with Iowa.

Assistant coach Joe Rossi missed the Illinois game because of COVID-19 and Fleck offered no timeline on Rossi’s return, although he did say the defensive coordinator is “doing well.”

What an interesting Big Ten football season so far. Wisconsin, the preseason favorite to win the West Division, has only played one game because of COVID. Minnesota, another popular pick to emerge as the division champ, is off to a 1-2 start, while Northwestern, 1-8 in league games last season, is 3-0 and could win the West. In the East Division nobody saw a 0-3 start for Penn State or 3-0 beginning for Indiana, a program historically among the worst in the nation.

Because he is 40 years old, Minnesota Twins DH Nelson Cruz didn’t make MLB.com’s list from today of the top 25 free agents this offseason based on analytics for future production. No Twins made the list but three former Minnesota players did, second baseman Jonathan Schoop at No. 17, relief pitcher Liam Hendriks, No. 19, and outfielder Robbie Grossman, 24.

MLB.com on Saturday listed the “perfect” free agent fits for all 30 major league teams and tagged the Twins with New York Mets starter Marcus Strommen. He is a potential No. 2 or 3 talent but MLB.com speculates the Mets could extend an $18.9 million qualifying offer. Twins free agent starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi is projected as the right fit with the Boston Red Sox.

Organizer Patrick Klinger reports the Capital Club will hear from Golden Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino tomorrow (Tuesday) via zoom. Klinger, the former Twins executive who now runs a St. Paul-based marketing company, uses this signature quote in his emails from English essayist and moralist Samuel Johnson:

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”

Pitino will be upbeat tomorrow talking about transfer guard Both Gach. Pitino announced today the Austin, Minnesota native, who played his first two seasons at Utah, has been given immediate eligibility by the NCAA. Gach joined Pitino’s program this summer after playing two seasons at the University of Utah. An almost certain starter for the Gophers this fall, Gach will have two years of eligibility at Minnesota.

A media panel selected a 10-member preseason All-Big Ten team announced today that includes Pitino’s junior point guard, Marcus Carr. He was an All-Big Ten third team selection last season, after having a school record 207 assists.

The Gopher men’s hockey team program is the favorite to win the Big Ten Conference in 2020-21, per a poll of league coaches who also designated four Minnesota players with preseason honors. It was announced this morning Minnesota led the poll ahead of Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Penn State.

Minnesota junior forward Sammy Walker is a member of the preseason All-Big Ten first team. Senior forward Brannon McManus and sophomore defenseman Jackson LaCombe are on the second team. Sophomore forward Ben Meyers received honorable mention.

Defending WCHA regular-season champion Minnesota State is the unanimous favorite to repeat as champions, earning all 10 first-place votes in the league’s media poll announced today. The Mavericks are followed by Bemidji State, Bowling Green , Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech, Lake Superior State , Alaska, Ferris State, Alaska Anchorage and Alabama Huntsville. Minnesota State junior goaltender Dryden McKay is the media poll choice as WCHA Preseason Player of the Year.

Nobody is saying Marco Rossi is the next Mikko Koivu yet, but the Minnesota Wild need to develop an extraordinary center and it could be the 19-year-old Rossi. The team’s 2020 first round draft choice might make the Minnesota roster in his first season.

The NHL hasn’t announced when the season will begin but don’t count on spectators being allowed, at least early on.

“The Rundown,” Jeff Crilley’s daily newsletter, reports in today’s issue that early analysis by Pfizer says more than 90 percent of volunteers given the company’s vaccine didn’t develop COVID-19.

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P.J. Fleck: Gophers Defense ‘Talented’

Posted on November 2, 2020 by David Shama

Enjoy a Monday notes column quoting Mike Zimmer and P.J. Fleck about their inexperienced defenses, and Dave St. Peter on free agents and building next year’s team.

The 0-2 Golden Gophers football team has given up 94 points but in a Zoom call with reporters this afternoon Fleck stressed it is inexperience, not abilities, that is the defense’s problem. “We have a very talented defense,” Fleck said. “…We’ve got a lot of really good players.”

The defense is without seven starters from last year’s 11-2 team, including linebacker Kamal Martin who had some nice plays for the Green Bay Packers Sunday against the Vikings. Fleck used Martin as an example of a young talent with the Gophers who before he left the program had refined his skills including major improvement as a tackler.

Fleck said his inexperienced players are in position to make tackles but not executing. He wants to see more “gang tackling” as the Gophers try to end the explosive plays made by the opposition through two Big Ten losses. Fleck, who said defensive effort is not an issue, referred to a “developmental program” with the Gophers and said, “You’ve got to allow them to fail, to grow. I know it’s hard. …”

This has been the most difficult stretch for Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi since he took over in that role during the 2018 season. Fleck said Rossi is one of the best at what he does. “I think he is one of the best football coaches I’ve ever been around,” Fleck added.

Minnesota has seven more games on the schedule with a trip to Illinois next. Fleck said the chance for players to learn, gain more experience and improve will only grow. “We’re going to be playing a lot more people, and that’s the investment we’re going to continue to make,” he said.

Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more in Maryland’s 45-44 win over the Gophers last Friday, is the Big Ten’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week along with Ohio State QB Justin Fields.

Interestingly, the Vikings played seven rookies on defense yesterday in their 28-22 win over Packers. Zimmer has been the Vikings’ head coach since 2014 and before that spent many years as an NFL assistant, but that seven number made an impression.

“It was interesting, I will say. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that as well,” Zimmer said this afternoon on a media call with reporters.

Injuries and off-season departures have resulted in new players and the mistakes they inevitably make. “Defensively we started out a little slow (yesterday),” Zimmer said. “Some of the young guys, I think they just wanted to watch the Hall of Fame quarterback (Aaron Rodgers), instead of watching their guy, but we played better in the second half. …”

Cornerback Jeff Gladney got beat in the first quarter yesterday on a touchdown pass to Green Bay’s Davante Adams. Gladney should have been positioned to the outside of Adams, not the inside. When he headed toward the sideline coach Zimmer barked at him but the rookie appeared to pay little attention and just kept running.

Zimmer said Gladney started out on the outside and then got out of position. “That’s where (outside) he should have been all the way.”

Rookie cornerback Cameron Dantzler had to be carried off the field with a neck injury yesterday. “He’s doing well,” Zimmer reported. “Got a chance to play this week.”

The Vikings, 2-5, play the Detroit Lions, 3-4, at US Bank Stadium Sunday, and have four of their next five games at home. No predictions from Zimmer, but he expressed optimism about Sunday if the effort and execution of yesterday continues on both offense and defense.

This fall the Minnesota Twins have eight free agents: Ehire Adrianza, Alex Avila, Tyler Clippard, Nelson Cruz, Marwin Gonzalez, Rich Hill, Trevor May and Jake Odorizzi. St. Peter, the club president, told Sports Headliners he is uncertain whether the Twins will negotiate with all eight and it’s “probably unlikely” all the free agents will be on the 2021 spring training roster.

St. Peter declined to talk about specific Twins free agents but acknowledged there are big decisions ahead (presumably at the top of the list are Cruz, Odorizzi and Gonzalez). He didn’t commit his organization to signing free agents from other teams, although he said that is certainly a possibility—along with possible trades and promoting players from within the system as ways to improve his club.

Perhaps the Twins indirectly showed their interest in Chaska native Brad Hand when they recently declined the option on the contract of key Minnesota reliever Sergio Romo. The Cleveland Indians have also declined an option on Hand who last season was 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA and an American League-leading 16 saves.

Because of the pandemic this will be an offseason like no other as the 30 MLB franchises show how much, or little, they are willing to pay players, starting with free agents. Sportico interviewed MLB commissioner Rob Manfred who said in a recent story teams amassed $8.3 billion in debt from financial lenders and lost $2.8 to $3 billion in operational expenses this year. Manfred is cautious about what baseball will look like in 2021.

St. Peter referred to the “economic carnage” of 2020 but didn’t offer details about Twins finances. “We’re no different,” he said.

The Twins won the AL Central for a second consecutive season. “We really like our club,” St. Peter said. “You’re always looking for ways to improve, and that’s what the offseason will be about.”

The 2020 Twins often impressed with their pitching and defense. “Our offense was average, which I think was surprising,” St. Peter said. “We expected our offense to be better than that. But pitching and defense is what wins championships at the end of the day. …”

The goal of management is to head out of spring training with an improved team capable of reaching the World Series, St. Peter said.

The NHL’s 2021 Winter Classic scheduled for January 1 at Target Field has been postponed, but St. Peter is hopeful his venue will eventually host the game that was to be played between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues. He also said college football at Target Field remains of interest with St. Thomas being among possibilities to participate in a game.

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