Coach-a-polooza! (And some position thoughts)

Jim Schwartz - gone.
Rob Chudzinski - gone.
Greg Schiano - gone.
Mike Shanahan - gone.
Leslie Frazier - gone.
(Yes, I know Gary Kubiak is gone too, but he wasn't fired today.)

I figured Frazier was going, but it's still a little sad to see him go.  He did give this team his all.  He didn't cause distractions, or pass the buck, or blame the players.  He has been the epitome of class and constancy during his four seasons (well, three and a bit), and I raise my glass to him tonight for what he did for us.

Still, I want to win.  And for all Frazier gave us everything he could, we weren't winning.

(I still blame the players for some of that though.)

So now five teams - Washington, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Detroit, and Minnesota all need coaches.   Dad wants us to pick up Shanahan.  I've been hearing rumors about Jack del Rio.  One or two people were even murmuring about Lovie Smith, but I think the Browns would be more likely to take him.

So far as coaching goes, I think we need a complete overhaul of staff.  Make Spielman sweat a little, since he's doing all the hiring right now, he needs to put his ass on the line and invest in a really good staff.  Defense is our THING.  We are the Minnesota Vikings!  We are the kings of rough, tough, grind-it-out defense!  Let's bring that back.  Need a good DC, and, almost more important, we need a BRUTAL strength-and-conditioning team too.  No more being gassed in the first quarter!

Ah, I see per Twitter that the Vikings (and the Browns) have asked for permission to interview Adam Gase, the Broncos OC.  He has declined to interview until after the season, which I approve of.  Guess we'll see what comes of that!  Do we want him as OC or HC? I wonder...

I have two positions of real need to be addressed on the player side: quarterback (duh) and linebacker.  The reason we have sucked so brutally this year (what was it, FIVE losses in the last 100 seconds of the game??) is because our line gives up.  Our secondary does too, but Rhodes is coming on so I honestly think line is more needful right now. 

I can see us cutting Ponder right away, keeping Freeman for the offseason, and using Cassel as our tide-over QB until we can trade or draft our future starter.

So far as drafting a QB goes, my father is interested in both Manziel and Bortles...I would LOVE to see Johnny Football in purple&gold, but the man does throw interceptions.  And lots of them.  So I don't know.  I have no faith in Teddy Bridgewater's durability (I feel the same way about Marcus Mariota, but he's sensibly staying in the NCAA another year, I'm told), and I feel seven kinds of iffy about AJ McCarron.  I know he's done very well in the NCAA, but then, so did Ryan Leaf.  (To be fair to McCarron, he seems to have a MUCH better attitude and more stable temperament than Leaf ever did...but still.)

Honestly Tahj Boyd is the only one I really like (God help me!) and he's from Clemsucks.  Can we really trust an ACC quarterback?  I mean...I know the SEC doesn't have the world's best QBs, but our last ACC QB :coughPondercough: didn't turn out too well for us.  (Speaking of SEC QBs, did you hear Tim Tebow has finally given in and accepted a job as an ESPN anchor?)

More to come later.  Suffice it to say I am very happy it's the holidays and I get to watch football again!

SKOL!