Dodged One

One of the main reasons that I feel confident that the Minnesota Vikings have a bright future is their coaches and front office. If the Vikings have the future that I expect, other teams will circle and pluck away the best. Even the nice improvement on the field this year brought the attention of some teams. Assistant general manager George Paton interviewed for the general manager position of the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns. He was in the running for the St. Louis Rams job last year. Paton is a valuable personnel man in the Vikings front office. Other teams have come to know that. He'll be running his own team soon. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer interviewed for the Chicago Bears head coaching job. He'll be getting many more interviews in the coming years. The Vikings special teams units were incredibly inconsistent before Priefer arrived two years ago. Granted, many of those difficulties were caused by Devin Hester and every other stick of dynamite that the Bears had returning kicks. There was a real fear every time the Vikings had to kick the ball. Priefer has turned that around in two years. The Vikings were among the best special teams units in all phases this year. Priefer was instrumental in kicker Blair Walsh's incredible rookie season. He scouted and coached away the difficulties that Walsh had his final year at Georgia. Like George Paton, Mike Priefer will have his own team soon.

In 2006, new Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress hired a fairly unknown defensive backs coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be his defensive coordinator. It was clear from that first training camp that Mike Tomlin wasn't going to be around for very long. I hoped that he would be in Minnesota for more than one year but it didn't work out that way. He's done pretty well for himself in Pittsburgh. Like Tomlin, Mike Priefer has a similar presence about him. John Harbaugh's success in Baltimore has shined the light on the potential of special teams coordinators. Unlike their offensive and defensive counterparts, special teams coordinators deal with the entire roster. This gives them an overall team perspective that benefits them when they lead their own team. Priefer's days in Minnesota are numbered. Paton's too. Unless something unexpected comes up, they're both Vikings for another year. While it will be a big loss for the Vikings when another team comes calling it's a tremendous and deserving opportunity for Priefer and Paton. It's wrong to not be happy for someone that is finally getting the opportunity for which they've worked for so long. When a team is successful they often lose their talented people. Priefer and Paton may only be the beginning. Alan Williams and Bill Musgrave might not be too far behind. For another year year, the Minnesota Vikings may have dodged the pilfereing.