David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Mixed Messages Tag Frazier Era

Posted on December 18, 2013December 18, 2013 by David Shama

Will Leslie Frazier return as the Vikings head coach in 2014?

After Frazier coached the Vikings to a 10-6 record last season and a playoff spot, management and ownership declined to extend his contract. The team reportedly has an option for Frazier’s services in 2014, making it easy and inexpensive to let him go if that is the decision.

But a trusted source has repeatedly told Sports Headliners that in late summer the Vikings were talking about a multi-year extension to Frazier’s contract. If true, this sort of mixed message is part of what characterizes Frazier’s tenure as coach.

Multiple sources, including a Sports Headliners source, are now reporting the Vikings have contacted Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien, a former offensive coordinator with the NFL Patriots. If accurate, it means a coaching search, even if in preliminary mode, has started.

Could Frazier keep his job if the team wins its last two games of the season? A final record of 6-9-1 would be a major disappointment but perhaps not seen as a complete disaster by Frazier’s bosses after this team started the season 1-7.

Frazier was 3-13 two years ago. Two of his three full seasons as head coach haven’t resulted in records even approaching .500. He and his staff, along with the personnel department, haven’t solved the quarterback problem. There have been questionable coaching decisions about the use of certain players, plus stumbles in game management and failing to win in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.

But Frazier’s likeability and leadership has not only won friends in the organization and community but more importantly has kept the players on his side when the season was moving toward oblivion. “These guys have not quit,” said Dean Dalton, a former Vikings assistant coach.

A strong close to the season might save Frazier’s job but it probably won’t stop a shakeup of the coaching staff. Despite Frazier’s loyalty to his staff (and players) there aren’t many knowledgeable Vikings observers who believe offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and defensive coordinator Alan Williams will return in the same roles in 2014.

Frazier? Ask the question about his future this way: the Vikings haven’t made a long term commitment to him in the past, so based on two losing seasons and other critiques of his work how likely is it he will be retained?

If there’s a change, a lot of names will surface as Frazier’s successor including Brian Billick, the former Vikings assistant coach who won a Super Bowl with the Ravens but hasn’t coached since 2007. His head coaching experience and communication skills could fit well at a time when the Vikings are trying to rebuild the team and gain public confidence for not only next season but the new stadium opening in 2016.

The list could also include Stanford head coach David Shaw whose father Willie Shaw is a former Vikings assistant and Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin, an ex-Gophers assistant whose wife is from Minnesota. Shaw and Sumlin are both known as successful offensive coaches who have talents in developing quarterbacks.

Dalton said there are some differences in coaching college and pro football but not enough to eliminate college candidates for NFL openings. “I think the great ones can do it at any level.”

A successful head coach has to be a “CEO type” in the opinion of Dalton. What that includes is a high football IQ and the ability to attract top assistant coaches while being a teacher and leader who goes about the job with authority and consistency.

“To be honest, Leslie fits all those things,” Dalton said. “It’s been disappointing as to how things have gone in terms of the product on the field and number of victories.”

Worth Noting

Bill McGuire is a name to follow in the coming months and years. The former UnitedHealth executive took over ownership of the NASL Minnesota United FC soccer franchise last year. Some day he could be operating his team in a downtown soccer stadium near the Minneapolis Farmers Market.

McGuire was in Kansas City, Kansas earlier this month along with his son-in-law Nick Rogers who is president of Minnesota United. The two invited Twins president Dave St. Peter and Minnesota Ballpark Authority executive director Dan Kenney. Both are authorities on stadiums.

The group watched a game in Sporting Park, a facility that seats 18,467 for soccer and 25,000 for concerts. The outdoor stadium opened in 2011 and cost $200 million.

St. Peter said the Twins aren’t moving toward an ownership interest in the soccer team or in a new soccer stadium. “Our focus is on the Twins,” he told Sports Headliners.

St. Peter was impressed with the Kansas City stadium. Would a similar facility be successful in the Farmers Market area where business leaders there are intrigued about a stadium being a catalyst for economic growth? “I don’t know if there is a model to support that,” he said. “I am not sure I have enough information to have an opinion.”

Although soccer and baseball seasons are concurrent, St. Peter isn’t concerned about the growth of soccer. “We don’t view soccer as a threat to our fan base,” he said.

McGuire is highly regarded among business people. He probably doesn’t see his franchise’s present home site at the National Sports Center in Blaine as a permanent facility for the team. It wouldn’t be surprising to some day see an open air soccer facility downtown that could also be used for concerts and other events.

For the second time in five years the MIAC will provide the football officiating crew for the Division III national championship game in Salem, Virginia. Working Friday’s game between Mount Union and UW-Whitewater will be Twin Citians Tom Barnette, Tony Day, Tom Schiller, Josh Thurow, Ben Conley, Chris Rossini and Tom Gillund.

Washburn running back Jeff Jones liked Iowa State running backs coach Kenith Pope who was recruiting him but left the Cyclones staff recently. As a college assistant, Pope was part of staffs that coached legendary running backs Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson. Jones made an official visit to Iowa State last weekend after previously visiting the Gophers.

Washburn coach Giovan Jenkins told Sports Headliners Jones has improved his ACT score and plans to take the test again to score even higher.

Steve Erban e-mailed earlier this week that his Creative Charters has filled the seats on the December 25 airplane headed to Houston for the Texas Bowl but space remains on the second plane departing Minneapolis on December 26. Erban encourages Gophers fans to travel next week in large numbers, helping develop a reputation that Minnesota fans are passionate about attending bowl games. The Gophers are favored to defeat Syracuse on December 27 in the Texas Bowl. More on travel information at Creativecharter.com.

Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton has followed the improbable comeback season of Auburn. The 11-1 Tigers will play at the Rose Bowl for the national championship against 12-0 Florida State on January 6. Dalton will be there and see his son Devon, an Eden Prairie High School graduate, play the tuba in the Auburn marching band. The Tigers were 3-9 overall last season, 0-8 in the SEC.

Congratulations to Hamline’s Student Athletic Advisory Committee for thinking about U.S. military members in Afghanistan during the holidays. SAAC collected 342 pounds of items including food, shampoo and toothpaste to ship there. SAAC has members from 19 sports and is chaired by volleyball coach Becky Egan. Tara Dooley, Hamline’s assistant trainer who served in Iraq and Kuwait, and school athletic director Jason Verdugo initiated the overseas effort.

Johnson High School and alumni celebrate 100 years of hockey at the St. Paul school on Saturday with multiple events. The school won four state titles including the 1955 team that Herb Brooks played for. Alumni games will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at Phalen Arena in St. Paul. Johnson will play South St. Paul in junior varsity and varsity games at 1 and 3 p.m. at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood. A dinner and silent auction are scheduled Saturday at Jimmy’s Event Center in Vadnais Heights starting at 5 p.m.

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Vikings Put a Cap ‘E’ in Entertaining

Posted on December 16, 2013December 16, 2013 by David Shama

I probably deserve some recognition for attending yesterday’s Vikings game. After all, the 4-9-1 Vikings are having a tough year, among the worst in franchise history.

I overheard a media colleague express his frustration earlier this fall. “I am thinking of staging my own death so I won’t have to cover them,” he said.

Driving to the game I heard on 1500 ESPN that Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart wouldn’t play because of injuries. Matt Asiata, the Omaha Nighthawks alum, was starting at running back. Injuries at the cornerback positions made Marcus Sherels and Shaun Prater starters.

Ugh. I pondered heading back home.

Downtown I walked in the cold across icy sidewalks and noticed fans headed to the stadium were muted except for chattering teeth. At least they could anticipate the warmth and cover of the dome. A year from now no such luck.

When the Vikings play outdoors at TCF Bank Stadium expect fans to get their snowmobile suits and ski masks out of mothballs. That’s the kind of gear once worn for December games at Met Stadium when Jack Daniel’s and a flask were best friends.

When I watched those games from the warmth of the Met Stadium press box, I thought the fans were nuts. If God wanted football to be played outdoors in December and January he would have told me. After all these years I am still waiting for the e-mail.

Consider the Philadelphia-based Eagles who the Vikings played yesterday. Fans in Philly throw snowballs at Santa Claus. The City of Brotherly Love is hardly a poster-child for the virtues of outdoor football. If the nation’s founders had foreseen such rudeness, they undoubtedly would have written the Constitution in Miami.

On my walk to the Metrodome I didn’t see Santa Claus but I did observe ticket hawkers experiencing a fourth quarter slump in business. A bad season and near zero temps don’t make for hot ticket sales. One hawker offered me seats on the 50-yard line. Another offered $50 if I would take his place on the street.

Just before entering the stadium I moved through security and recalled that no one ever checks me at Williams Arena before Gophers basketball games. The terrorists must be closer to downtown than campus.

Inside the dome the concourses looked familiar. I am surrounded by a lot of fans dressed in blue jeans that looked like proud owners of F-150’s. They also could teach me a thing or two about drinking beer before noon. I could teach them how to use words like “excuse me.”

Prior to kickoff I anticipated who will sound the Gjallarhorn. With a losing season that could produce less than five wins for only the seventh time in franchise history, I started processing candidates. I scaned the field looking for Mitt Romney, Ron Gardenhire, David Kahn or Tubby Smith. Nope, not good enough. Where’s 3-13 Les Steckel?

A guy who sits near me in the press box often has a meltdown because of the ear-busting noise that greets the Vikings when they come on the field. I asked if he worries about losing his hearing.

No response.

I wrote him a note.

He wrote back: “I am grateful to have my eyesight.”

Before kickoff the Vikings defensive starters are introduced over the public address system. “At cornerback, Shaun Prater.”

My noise sensitive neighbor quipped, “The fans aren’t booing. They’re who-ing?”

Josh Freeman was deactivated (again) for the game. The scoop about the quarterback who played in a Monday night game within days after being acquired from the Bucs and hardly seen since is a not to be missed story during the offseason.

Greg Jennings not only caught a first quarter 57 yard touchdown pass, he had 99 yards in receptions early in the game on his way to a total of 163. That 99 yard total before the second quarter ended topped his previous best for one game this season, 92.

During the first half Cordarrelle Patterson made perhaps the most exciting play of the day with a 13 yard run where he threatened to pass and then reversed his field. The Vikings marketing department probably couldn’t be happier with the rookie wide receiver.

With the Vikings holding a surprise 17-9 lead at halftime, attention turned to the announcement of the All-Mall of America team. The fans voted for the best Vikings players during the Metrodome’s era from 1982-2013. Percy Harvin, the choice for return specialist, was booed so loud there’s no need to text him with the bad news. The boos were heard all the way to Seattle.

Quarterback Matt Cassel, who in the first quarter completed all nine of his passes, stayed focused in the second half finishing with a passer rating of 116.6. The Eagles narrowed the score to 41-30 with 4:26 remaining in the fourth quarter but the Vikings answered with a touchdown to give Minnesota a 48-30 upset victory over a team that was supposed to win by a touchdown or more.

“How about those Vikings?” That’s how a happy Leslie Frazier began his press conference.

The Vikings coach said there’s no question about who his starting quarterback will be next week in the team’s next to last game of the season against the Bengals. He also wouldn’t second-guess anyone about the decision to stay so long with Christian Ponder as the starting quarterback this season.

Cassel came to the news conference dressed in a sport coat and wearing a Vikings cap. He also was wearing the same positive and patient attitude he’s had all season, regardless of whether he’s been a starter, sub or bench warmer.

In their last six games the Vikings are 3 and 2 with 1 tie. That’s the kind of mediocrity that characterizes the other three teams in the NFC North. If the Vikings had flirted with .500 all season, they would be in the chase for the division title.

On Sunday, though, they were a good football team with a hot quarterback, productive receivers and impressive defense. At least one fan, at this stage of a long season, would have preferred a loss. He voiced this: “If the Vikings could lose their last three games of the season, they would have no less than the No. 3 pick in the first round of next year’s NFL Draft.”

But why be surprised that the Vikings won yesterday. They’ve held us in suspense with all kinds of storylines most of the season including a week ago Sunday against the Ravens when the lead changed multiple times in the last two minutes. “They (the Vikings) haven’t been relevant, but they’ve been entertaining,” a fan said yesterday.

As I drove home from the game, the second to the last the Vikings will ever play in the dome, I had one concluding thought:

This was another entertaining Sunday.

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Claeys High on Hageman NFL Draft

Posted on December 13, 2013December 13, 2013 by David Shama

Gophers defensive coordinator and acting head coach Tracy Claeys doesn’t hesitate when talking about senior defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman being chosen during the first round of next spring’s NFL Draft.

“He will be a first round draft pick. I don’t see 20 teams passing him up, let alone 32 once they get a chance to work him out,” Claeys told Sports Headliners this week.

If Claeys is correct, Hageman will be the first Gopher selected in the first round since running back Laurence Maroney in 2006. Hageman became the first Minnesota player to be chosen first team All-Big Ten since 2009 (wide receiver Eric Decker) when he made both the media and coaches all-conference teams.

Hageman finished the 2013 regular season with 34 tackles, a team-high 11 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, one interception, eight pass breakups, one fumble recovery, one blocked field goal and one blocked extra point.

A converted tight end, the 6-foot-6, 311-pound Hageman was announced as the Gophers’ MVP and outstanding defensive player at the team’s awards program on Sunday. “I think he’s improved a lot since we got here,” said Claeys who came to Minnesota with head coach Jerry Kill for the 2011 season. “Each year he’s made leaps and bounds (improvement). I think this year he made a lot more individual plays than he has in the past, and that caused people to have to double team him more.”

Claeys said Hageman has “tremendous upside” and will benefit from playing in the NFL where he won’t face as many blocking schemes. “He’s right up there with the best that is in the Big Ten and I think that will show on draft day,” Claeys said.

Media specializing in draft analysis have varying opinions on where Hageman will be selected, with Dane Brugler from CBSsports.com among the more optimistic. He projects Hageman being selected No. 29 in the first round by the Patriots. He also ranks him No. 2 among projected defensive tackles available for the draft.

Claeys also believes senior Gophers defensive back Brock Vereen will be drafted. He projects Vereen as a “middle rounds” choice because of his abilities including experience playing both cornerback and safety for the Gophers.

Worth Noting

Chris Werle, Gophers senior associate athletic director, e-mailed that as of Wednesday morning 40,000 tickets had been sold for the outdoor Hockey City Classic at TCF Bank Stadium. The doubleheader, featuring the Gophers men’s and women’s teams, will be played the evening of Friday, January 17. If severe weather causes postponement, the classic will be rescheduled for Sunday, January 19.

The athletic department is looking for financial help with the cost of busing students to the Texas Bowl where the Gophers play Syracuse in Houston on Friday, December 27. The Gophers football marching band will fly to Houston.

Big Ten Network football analyst Gerry DiNardo said on Sunday after the announcement of the seven Big Ten bowl game assignments that the Gophers have the most favorable match-up. The Gophers are 4 ½ point favorites to defeat Syracuse, according to yesterday’s Linemakers story on Sportingnews.com.

Jeff Jones, the state’s 2013 Mr. Football, visits Iowa State this weekend. He visited the Gophers last weekend. Other official visits aren’t scheduled yet.

Last night legendary former Saint John’s head football coach John Gagliardi received the Contributions to College Football Award during the Home Depot College Football Awards show on ESPN. Gagliardi retired after the 2012 season as the winningest coach in college football history.

The Eagles team that plays the Vikings on Sunday at Mall of America Field has won five consecutive games and owns a league best 5-1 road record. On Sunday the Eagles, led by new head coach Chip Kelly, will try to become the fifth team in NFL history to have 11 games of 400-plus yards in a single season.

Nick Foles has emerged as the Eagles quarterback and he is featured in this week’s Sports Illustrated. Kelly is quoted in the story as saying Foles will be the team’s quarterback “for the next thousand years.”

Gophers basketball players heard from Louisville coach Rick Pitino when he was in town earlier in the week to watch Minnesota play South Dakota State at Williams Arena. Gophers forward Oto Osenieks said Pitino told the players that to be a better team they have to improve defensively. “He said he watches us all the time on TV,” Osenieks said.

Asked about the similar mannerisms and appearances of Pitino and his son Richard Pitino, the Gophers coach, Osieneks said: “You can tell they’re related.”

Phil Jackson includes Minnesota connections in his bestselling new book Eleven Rings. The NBA coaching legend writes about his Williston High School team losing in the North Dakota state tournament finals to Rugby led by Paul Presthus who went on to become captain of the Gophers. Jackson also writes about the “my way or the highway” style of Bill Fitch, his University of North Dakota coach, who after going to Bowling Green coached the Gophers. After a great career at North Dakota, Jackson chose the New York Knicks of the NBA over the ABA’s Minnesota Muskies.

Timberwolves forward Kevin Love is fourth among front court players and guard Ricky Rubio is eighth among backcourt players in voting for Western Conference players to determine who will participate in the Sunday, February 16 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. The NBA issued the first of voting updates yesterday. Balloting concludes on Monday, January 20.

Former Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher has high praise for Apple Valley point guard Tyus Jones. “I think he is the best (prep) guard in state history,” Dutcher told Sports Headliners. “He has great court awareness and when he needs to take over the game he does. I think he will play well immediately for Duke (next year). An NBA friend told me he thinks he can play at the next level.”

Saint John’s men’s basketball coach Jim Smith is one victory away from tying Ed Diddle (Western Kentucky, 1923-64) for 17th on college basketball’s all-divisions win list. Smith has a 758-538 career record in 50 seasons.

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