Minnesota Vikings: 7 Reasons Leslie Frazier Will Be a Success This Season

The 2011 season marks the beginning of the Leslie Frazier era in Minnesota. Frazier is the eighth coach in Minnesota’s history.

Frazier has never been a head coach at the NFL level, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be a failure.

He’s actually quite respected around the league and if Minnesota hadn’t offered him its head coaching gig, someone else would have.

Here’s a look at why Frazier can be successful in his first year as the coach in Minnesota.

7. Good Philosophies

Frazier recognizes what former Vikings coach Brad Childress did not.

The Vikings have Adrian Peterson as their running back. A player with that type of talent is rare in the NFL.

So what does Frazier want to do with Peterson? He wants to get him the ball as much as possible. He wants to make the Vikings a running team again, something that Childress lost sight of.

He also recognizes the importance of finding a stable quarterback who can command the offense. Minnesota has gone through too many quarterbacks since its last franchise quarterback—Dante Culpepper—faded.

Minnesota selected Christian Ponder 12th overall in the 2011 NFL draft—a move many have questioned—but the point is that Frazier knows what it takes to win in the NFL.

6. Playing Experience

Frazier was an extremely talented defensive back during his six-year NFL career, all spent with the Chicago Bears. He won a Super Bowl in 1985 with those Bears.

From 1983-85, Frazier led the Bears in interceptions—which is impressive considering the talent he played with on those defensive squads—and had 20 in a career that was limited to six seasons due to a knee injury.

In college, Frazier was a stud defensive back and was named an All-American during his time at Alcorn State. 

It’s not necessary for a coach to have been a talented player or a player period, but it never hurts. It allows the coach to know what the players need to hear, work on and so forth. It gives him a better perspective on everything.

5. Calming Presence

Winning or losing, touchdown scored or touchdown allowed, turnover forced or turnover given away, it’s difficult to get a read for how Frazier feels on a play-by-play basis.

The man shows very little emotion on the sidelines. And for some teams that’s bad. But for other teams that’s a positive. Minnesota is a place where it’s a positive.

The roster is filled with veteran players who have experience as winners and know what it takes to be successful in the NFL. Those type of players don’t need a coach to motivate them. They have been there, done that, and just need a coach to show them the way.

Frazier will serve as a teacher, not necessarily a motivator. With this roster, that type of mentality will work.

4. No Nonsense

But don’t mistake the calming presence for the idea that Frazier will get walked all over by his players. Frazier wants things done the right way.

Many players said that drills would be repeated throughout training camp until it was done the right way. There was no, “Oh, well that was OK.” The players have to do things the right way.

Frazier just makes his ideas known in a different way. He doesn’t go on verbal rants like a Jon Gruden or Ozzie Guillen. He gets his messages across through teaching and resiliency.

Just look at Bryant McKinnie. McKinnie was a staple at left tackle for Minnesota since 2002. But when he showed up for training camp reportedly 65 pounds overweight, Frazier had no problem sending him home.

Frazier may be a players’ coach, but he knows the right way and wrong way to do things.

3. Good Coaching Staff

When Frazier was hired, there were discussions about the future of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Would he return at that position or should he be let go?

Ultimately Frazier opted to move on, which was an intelligent choice. The one year that Minnesota’s offense flourished under Bevell was the one year in which Brett Favre had to post arguably the best season of his NFL career.

If that’s what it takes for a coordinator’s offense to flourish—with the likes of Adrian Peterson in his backfield—then something isn’t working.

In at offensive coordinator is Bill Musgrave, who only mentored Matt Ryan into one of the best young quarterbacks in the game and helped the Atlanta Falcons create one of the best offenses in the NFL today.

He’ll look to get Peterson more involved with the passing game and look to the tight ends more—both intelligent ideas given Minnesota’s personnel.

Frazier also went in-house for the defensive coordinator position, promoting linebacker coach Fred Pagac to the defensive coordinator position.

Minnesota’s defense wasn’t broke in 2010, although forced turnovers and sacks decreased from 2009 to 2010, but it certainly wasn’t the same from 2009. That had a lot to do with injuries and negative culture surrounding the 2010 team.

Despite that, the defense still ranked in the top 10 for rush defense (ninth) and pass defense (10th).

Pagac should help ensure the Vikings have more of the same production in 2011 and beyond what they had for the latter part of the 2000s.

2. Has the Players' Trust

When Brad Childress was fired as the Vikings’ coach last season, there seemed to be a new air of life to the Minnesota personnel.

The players spoke of how their input was taken into account more often and how Frazier was more of a players’ coach. He took their concerns into consideration rather than running the show just how he felt it should.

Minnesota only went .500 (3-3) during Frazier’s six games at the helm in 2010. But anyone who had watched the Vikings under Childress in 2010 could see a difference in the performance. The players wanted to win for Frazier, whereas they didn’t care so much about winning for Childress.

1. Coaching Experience

Frazier isn’t a new kid on the coaching block. He’s far from it.

Yes, this is Frazier’s first head coaching gig. But he has invaluable experience. He’s been around some of the best in the coaching business—excluding Brad Childress—including Tony Dungy and Andy Reid. 

He has 13 years as an NFL coach and 11 years as a coach at the collegiate level.  Only twice, in 1999—in Donovan McNabb’s rookie season as a Philadelphia Eagle—and the 2010 season, has he experienced losing seasons as a coach.

He has been part of six division titles, seven playoff runs, and one Super Bowl victory (as the defensive backs coach and a special assistant in Indianapolis for Dungy in 2006) during his time as a coach.