Week 6: Falcons (0-5) at VIKINGS (1-4)

[Cearbhall]

9 minutes ago, Nozizaki said:

I'd also like the Vikings to begin the interview process early. Great candidates, like Eric Bieniemy, will start getting interviewed early. The only solace is a lot of those candidates will be playing well into January, if the Vikings hold off on firing Zimmer until season's end.

I agree that firing the coach in the middle of the season is important to be best positioned to hire some of the head coaching candidates. It allows the team to really go after them. Waiting until the end of the season means that many of them will have already have been courted by other teams for some time. Some of them will have already made a decision.

However, I would rather not have Rick Spielman picking the next head coach. Consequently, there is little reason to move on from Mike Zimmer at this time. The team needs to first move on from Rick Spielman and hire a new GM. The new GM could then choose his coach.

The way that I see this happening is the team hiring a new GM this year. It is probably too late to hire any of the hot coaching candidates by the time that happens so the new GM would ride with Zimmer for a year while considering who he wants to have coach the team going forward. Zimmer would be the de facto interim head coach for a year but Zimmer may also look at it as a year long interview with the new GM to keep his job. The new GM would also be evaluating other coaches and staff in his first year to determine which he might keep the following year.

Leaving '21 the GM hires his coach. Together they make a decision at QB. This mostly concludes the windy road of transition and the team is then going straight ahead forward full speed starting in '22.

Basically, the team needs to make major changes and we ought to brace ourselves for tumult in the immediate future. I believe the team will experience choppy waters no matter how they go about the changes. What I outline above is my preference for how they navigate the situation but it would not calm the seas in the immediate future. It would be a plan designed for smooth sailing in a couple years.

[SteelKing728]

27 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

I agree that firing the coach in the middle of the season is important to be best positioned to hire some of the head coaching candidates. It allows the team to really go after them. Waiting until the end of the season means that many of them will have already have been courted by other teams for some time. Some of them will have already made a decision.

However, I would rather not have Rick Spielman picking the next head coach. Consequently, there is little reason to move on from Mike Zimmer at this time. The team needs to first move on from Rick Spielman and hire a new GM. The new GM could then choose his coach.

The way that I see this happening is the team hiring a new GM this year. It is probably too late to hire any of the hot coaching candidates by the time that happens so the new GM would ride with Zimmer for a year while considering who he wants to have coach the team going forward. Zimmer would be the de facto interim head coach for a year but Zimmer may also look at it as a year long interview with the new GM to keep his job. The new GM would also be evaluating other coaches and staff in his first year to determine which he might keep the following year.

Leaving '21 the GM hires his coach. Together they make a decision at QB. This mostly concludes the windy road of transition and the team is then going straight ahead forward full speed starting in '22.

Basically, the team needs to make major changes and we ought to brace ourselves for tumult in the immediate future. I believe the team will experience choppy waters no matter how they go about the changes. What I outline above is my preference for how they navigate the situation but it would not calm the seas in the immediate future. It would be a plan designed for smooth sailing in a couple years.

Someone needs to right this ship. Our team has been around for what? 60 years? 

Someone has to direct us to Valhalla eventually!!

[Cearbhall]

6 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said:

Someone needs to right this ship. Our team has been around for what? 60 years? 

Someone has to direct us to Valhalla eventually!!

I would like to nominate for consideration these three:

1. George Paton
2. Jeff Ireland
3. Daniel Jeremiah

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

I agree that firing the coach in the middle of the season is important to be best positioned to hire some of the head coaching candidates. It allows the team to really go after them. Waiting until the end of the season means that many of them will have already have been courted by other teams for some time. Some of them will have already made a decision.

However, I would rather not have Rick Spielman picking the next head coach. Consequently, there is little reason to move on from Mike Zimmer at this time. The team needs to first move on from Rick Spielman and hire a new GM. The new GM could then choose his coach.

The way that I see this happening is the team hiring a new GM this year. It is probably too late to hire any of the hot coaching candidates by the time that happens so the new GM would ride with Zimmer for a year while considering who he wants to have coach the team going forward. Zimmer would be the de facto interim head coach for a year but Zimmer may also look at it as a year long interview with the new GM to keep his job. The new GM would also be evaluating other coaches and staff in his first year to determine which he might keep the following year.

Leaving '21 the GM hires his coach. Together they make a decision at QB. This mostly concludes the windy road of transition and the team is then going straight ahead forward full speed starting in '22.

Basically, the team needs to make major changes and we ought to brace ourselves for tumult in the immediate future. I believe the team will experience choppy waters no matter how they go about the changes. What I outline above is my preference for how they navigate the situation but it would not calm the seas in the immediate future. It would be a plan designed for smooth sailing in a couple years.

I would change your scenario a bit.  I would fire Spielman now, promote Paton to GM and then fire Zimmer the moment the Vikings are officially eliminated from a playoff position.  Let Kubiak be interim head coach for the final three or four games with the mission to play younger players to best judge what the team has going into the off season.  If this scenario were to happen, then the Vikings would be in competition for the leading head coaching candidates.

[Cearbhall]

2 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

I would change your scenario a bit.  I would fire Spielman now, promote Paton to GM and then fire Zimmer the moment the Vikings are officially eliminated from a playoff position.  Let Kubiak be interim head coach for the final three or four games with the mission to play younger players to best judge what the team has going into the off season.  If this scenario were to happen, then the Vikings would be in competition for the leading head coaching candidates.

I could get behind that alternative. I like Paton as a candidate to replace Spielman as GM.  I would be concerned that the promotion of Paton would mean the team is not considering all possibilities. I am hesitant to just give it to someone without a competitive process. I do see the appeal.

Kubiak may not be interested in being an interim head coach. If he is, he would be great for that role. If he is not, there are plenty of fish to choose from for that position. It isn't something that requires as much consideration as the GM or permanent coach. If Gary wants to remain further in the background it would be fine to give the figurehead position to Klint with Gary pulling the strings in the background.

[CriminalMind]

I would definitely fire both Rick & Zim mid season, and giving Paton interm GM. 

Start reaching out to HC candidates early well before playoffs. Top 3 pick and a potential high QB selection is always appealing to a new HC

[whitehops]

zimmer isn't a perfect HC but he is a top 10 one and spielman is a top 10 GM as well. we've had a piss poor start to the season but i think context is important.

 

i think the season so far is like a perfect storm in terms of our defense being in a rebuild year, then getting hit with injuries and an opt-out all in a year where there was virtually no training camp. there would be growing pains in a normal year but our big rookie class had little time to prepare for the NFL and they were expected to contribute early. 

 

considering our success during their tenures, i think they deserve the chance to have a true franchise QB before they get canned. however, if we have a chance to draft lawrence, fields or lance this offseason and we don't i would fire spielman on the spot. 

[vikingsrule]

7 minutes ago, whitehops said:

zimmer isn't a perfect HC but he is a top 10 one and spielman is a top 10 GM as well. we've had a piss poor start to the season but i think context is important.

 

i think the season so far is like a perfect storm in terms of our defense being in a rebuild year, then getting hit with injuries and an opt-out all in a year where there was virtually no training camp. there would be growing pains in a normal year but our big rookie class had little time to prepare for the NFL and they were expected to contribute early. 

 

considering our success during their tenures, i think they deserve the chance to have a true franchise QB before they get canned. however, if we have a chance to draft lawrence, fields or lance this offseason and we don't i would fire spielman on the spot. 

Spielman has been here for a decade over three regimes and never landed a franchise QB and had a number of boneheaded decisions to get essentially stop gaps to try and win now. And it didn’t work. I’m fine keeping Zimmer but you absolutely have to make that change at GM. Just seems odd that a GM can stick around so long despite so many QB blunders. 

[JDBrocks]

11 minutes ago, vikingsrule said:

Spielman has been here for a decade over three regimes and never landed a franchise QB and had a number of boneheaded decisions to get essentially stop gaps to try and win now. And it didn’t work. I’m fine keeping Zimmer but you absolutely have to make that change at GM. Just seems odd that a GM can stick around so long despite so many QB blunders. 

It's pretty crazy how much of Rick's legacy with the Vikings is tied to Teddy's injury. The team is still feeling the effects of that practice 5 years later.

[vikingsrule]

25 minutes ago, JDBrocks said:

It's pretty crazy how much of Rick's legacy with the Vikings is tied to Teddy's injury. The team is still feeling the effects of that practice 5 years later.

But would Teddy have been any better than what we got out of Cousins the previous two seasons? I think that’s unlikely. This year, no question. Cousins is terrible this year.

[JDBrocks]

Just now, vikingsrule said:

But would Teddy have been any better than what we got out of Cousins the previous two seasons? I think that’s unlikely. This year, no question. Cousins is terrible this year.

that's exactly the point - we don't know. I lean toward yes based on what he had shown that preseason and all of the TC buzz, but I get it when others lean the other way. 

We do know that a bunch of the maneuvers and stop-gaps wouldn't have happened, and the drafts would have looked significantly different, though.

[twslhs20]

53 minutes ago, vikingsrule said:

Spielman has been here for a decade over three regimes and never landed a franchise QB and had a number of boneheaded decisions to get essentially stop gaps to try and win now. And it didn’t work. I’m fine keeping Zimmer but you absolutely have to make that change at GM. Just seems odd that a GM can stick around so long despite so many QB blunders. 

H couldn't find a QB in Miami either. He put us in cap hell.

Louis Riddick should be strongly considered for the GM spot.

[vikingsrule]

1 minute ago, twslhs20 said:

H couldn't find a QB in Miami either. He put us in cap hell.

Louis Riddick should be strongly considered for the GM spot.

I think being in cap hell has everything to do with Cousins and Barr. Take those deals out, we’re not so bad. But when you can’t draft a QB, and you’re not okay with resetting for a year with a cheaper stop gap, this is the consequence. 

[Cearbhall]

18 minutes ago, twslhs20 said:

H couldn't find a QB in Miami either. He put us in cap hell.

Louis Riddick should be strongly considered for the GM spot.

Louis Riddick is a great candidate to add to the list of guys to consider. He would be a strong candidate. He knows his stuff. It is good to start the process with a large list. We should add some more too.

• Paton
• Ireland
• Riddick
• Jeremiah

[Guest]

1 hour ago, vikingsrule said:

But would Teddy have been any better than what we got out of Cousins the previous two seasons? I think that’s unlikely. This year, no question. Cousins is terrible this year.

Cousins has been so streaky that the offense has had NO chance to gain either momentum or consistent performances from other players.  So, yes, the Vikings would've been better off with a less "talented" but more consistent quarterback like TB, who continues to grow into a solid starter who somehow has other players willing to walk through fire and a hail of bullets under his leadership.