The Paradoxical Stability Behind All The Purple Change
K. Joudry
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One thing that struck me while preparing yesterday’s “Midweek VT” piece is that the Vikings find themselves in a paradoxical position.
It’s safe to say that the team is entering a new era. Fans and writers alike are thus doing their best to anticipate the new direction for the team. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah doesn’t have the usual progression toward becoming an NFL GM. Rather than an extensive background in scouting, Adofo-Mensah has a background in economics and college basketball. He has since been able to use that background in a NFL setting, and yet it’s definitely an unusual path toward a GM position.
What got me thinking a little bit more about the paradoxical situation the Vikings find themselves in is this tweet from SI‘s Will Ragatz:
The individuals Ragatz mentions – as well as several others working behind the scenes – give the Vikings a fair bit of stability in their front office. The initial consensus seems to be that Adofo-Mensah’s strength rests in the numbers. Analytics and salary cap wizardry appear to be where he’ll excel. Now, it’s entirely plausible that he’s also a great scout. What we can say definitively is that the Vikings already have a lot of talent in place to help him in this regard. The organization feels like they have great people who can help him fulfill the demands of the GM position.
In other words, Adofo-Mensah is going to have some great support. It’s not like he is being tasked with completely rebuilding the front office. There’s a lot of carryover.
Partner that with the coaches who are still around; Mike Zimmer was the only one fired. There has been a lot of support for some of the current coaches. Thielen wants WR coach Keenan McCardell to stick around. One has to think that a tremendous vet like Thielen will be listened to by the leadership. I’ve previously noted that Andrew Janocko ought to stay (and possibly be promoted). There also seems to be a lot of support for keeping Andre Patterson and Ryan Ficken. I’m surely missing others.
Of course, this doesn’t mean there won’t be change. Some people will take on different positions, others will be fired. It’s highly unlikely Klint Kubiak and Adam Zimmer are retained.
That being said, the coaching staff is similar to the front office insofar as it has also maintained stability through all the change. This continuity may end up serving the team well. The Vikings don’t want a full rebuild. Rather, the hope is to climb into relevance soon. Keeping talented people around Adofo-Mensah and the incoming head coach will help.
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