Vikings interim coach Leslie Frazier not only coached as an assistant under Tony Dungy, he resembles the former Super Bowl winning coach in personality. Both are soft spoken and have calming demeanors.
When Frazier took over the job of head coach from Brad Childress last week the Vikings players realized what they were getting. Frazier had worked three-plus seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator where he directed a talented unit while winning praise for his performance. Players on both offense and defense knew the kind of personality to expect from the new boss.
Defensive back Lito Sheppard had even worked for Frazier in Philadelphia where he was Sheppard’s position coach. Sheppard said players respect Frazier and part of that is because of his demeanor. “They want to go out and do well for him,” Sheppard said.
Although his personality is reserved, that doesn’t mean Frazier won’t yell or raise his voice. “Yeah, there might have been one or two (times this year),” Sheppard laughed. “But you gotta have that as a man, (and) as a leader regardless of your demeanor. It’s a time to get excited, to get a little angry and put your foot down. As much as we don’t see it, he does have it in him. We saw it once or twice this year.”
Vikings wide receiver Greg Camarillo said a volatile coach would have added the wrong chemistry to the team’s locker room. The Vikings were 3-7 and in free fall when Frazier took over last week. “If you come in here halfway through the season cussing and yelling, nobody’s going to take to that,” he said. “But to come in and be calm shows that he respects us. That’s the first step. You show that you respect your players, they’ll give you that same respect back.”
Frazier will infrequently raise his voice, but not swear. “I don’t think you necessarily need profanity to get your point across,” Sheppard said.
Camarillo said in the “football world” coaches sometimes struggle to find the right words to communicate but not Frazier. “I don’t know if I have ever heard him cuss. He’s actually got an impressive vocab, man. He’s hit us with several vocab words that sound pretty good.”