NFL Rumors: Minnesota Vikings Reportedly Want to Hire Bill Parcells

Just when we thought the 2012 NFL offseason couldn’t get any zanier, a report has surfaced that Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf is pursuing current ESPN analyst Bill Parcells to both coach his team and oversee his personnel department.

Parcells—as many are aware—is reportedly contemplating an opportunity to coach the New Orleans Saints on an interim basis while head coach Sean Payton serves a season-long suspension, but Wilf’s offer may prove even sweeter than the “rental” gig Parcells would take in the Big Easy.

The report ran in The New York Post, which went on to say Wilf isn’t just interested in the idea of handing the keys of the franchise over to Parcells, he told the future Hall of Famer to “name his price” in order to get a deal done.

There’s a lot of unknown here, including how serious both sides are truly about a potential deal.  While Wilf’s interest in Parcells is understandable—he’s a master of turning downtrodden franchises into winners—the Vikings just promoted Rick Spielman to the role of general manager and have done nothing to suggest his job isn’t safe.

Parcells may have doubts about both the Saints and the Vikings deal, as the report says he told a group of people he was having a recent dinner with—a group that included Payton—he speculated about whether the game had “passed me by.” 

As for Leslie Frazier, the Vikings' current head coach, he’s likely feeling the heat this morning, regardless of the veracity of the report.  His team stumbled to just three wins in 2011, and although the offensive nucleus is forming with Adrian Peterson, Christian Ponder, Percy Harvin and potential top draft choice Matt Kalil, 2012 may prove to be another difficult season in the Twin Cities.

Wilf may believe that rather than being patient and riding the wave with Spielman and Frazier, he’d rather insert Parcells into the mix and hope for an expedient franchise turnaround.

Stay tuned.