What a difference a Coach (ing staff) makes ...

[Mothman]

Remember: this team went 10-6 with Simpson/Jenkins as our starters at WR, Brinkley/Henderson at LB, and Cook/Robinson playing major snaps at CB. We had some weak position groups.

... and consequently, I'd say took at least some pretty good coaching to coax those 10 wins out of that team.

[Mothman]

I'm curious to see how the Offense will function, Zimmer wasn't the offensive coach at Cincy but undeniably, offense has been the Bengals' achilles heel the past few seasons. Even with the Vikings limited success in recent years, the Vikings have had some great offenses.

Well, Norv has a good track record as a playcaller and the Vikings starting lineup on offense won't be changing too much so they clearly felt most of the work was needed on defense. I was just thinking about this a few minutes ago and the Vikes will likely have two new season-opening starters this year: Patterson and Cassel (or Bridgewater). If it's Patterson and Cassel, they were both starting by the end of last season which would mean the only difference would be injured players (like Rudolph) returning healthy and the change in coaching.

In contrast, it seems likely there will be at least 8 new opening day starters on defense:

3 on the line: Floyd, Jospeh and Griffen
2 at LB, with Greenway has the only returning starter
2 at CB: Cook is gone, Ribinson won't start and Rhodes wasn't the opening day starter in 2013
1 at safety: unless Sanford wins the job, it looks like we'll see a new starter at his spot.

[DK Sweets]

The change on defense is exciting. I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: what's really exciting is looking forward to how many of these players are under contract for next year, too. This coaching staff is going to really be able to build a TEAM, and not just a group of football players led by a few key contributors.

[radar55]

Time will ultimately tell just how good Zimmer is but its obvious that he has passion for the game. I love the idea that unlike Frazier who simply stood on the sideline with his arms folded when the team continued to screw the pooch....Zimmer is not afraid to show some emotion and will get in the face of players coming off the field when they make mistakes. Gotta love that in a head coach.

[9man]

Time will ultimately tell just how good Zimmer is but its obvious that he has passion for the game. I love the idea that unlike Frazier who simply stood on the sideline with his arms folded when the team continued to screw the pooch....Zimmer is not afraid to show some emotion and will get in the face of players coming off the field when they make mistakes. Gotta love that in a head coach.

Exactly! If a player messes up let him know it and get it corrected immediately. Don't wait to watch film the following Tuesday. (I have no idea if that is what happened)

[PurpleHalo]

LOL @ us having "As much talent as anybody".

We could have Lombardi as our head coach, with Noll at DC, and Walsh as OC, and we still wouldn't be a "juggernaut", this team needs more talent to hang with the perennial playoff contenders.

They have drafted 1st rounders like mad the last 3 years. At some point those players have to arrive and make the team successful. Combine that with some needed free agent pieces on defense. I don't think there is a lack of talent here, that talent all needs to grow up.

[chicagopurple]

Its REALLY early to have much of any opinion, but BOY I am optimistic about our new coaches! We are moving out of the stone age, speeding up play on offense AND defense, and (I hear) finally getting to ready to use AP in more creative ways! I just pray our secondary is truly upgraded. Its the one area I don't quite drink the Kool-Aid yet.......

[Demi]

They have drafted 1st rounders like mad the last 3 years. At some point those players have to arrive and make the team successful. Combine that with some needed free agent pieces on defense. I don't think there is a lack of talent here, that talent all needs to grow up.

If the person making those picks knows what he's doing.

And I think playing the Raiders makes a big difference as well.

[Reignman]

The defense looked good, no doubt about it, and I expect it to be improved this year but again, it seems too early to draw any firm conclusions. Let's see how they look after facing Brady, Brees, Ryan and Rodgers in the first 5 weeks of the season.

What conclusions did you draw after watching Fraziers defense get lit up by the likes of Tebow, Freeman, Cassel, Cutler, Gabbert, Hoyer, Flynn, Flacco, McClown, Eli, and just about anyone else who took the field vs our D the past 3 seasons? I don't expect any defense to shutdown the upper echelon passers, but it sure the heck helps when it can shutdown the guys it's supposed to shutdown, like it did last Friday.

I dare say that's a healthy, if not appropriate way to deal with sarcasm. In honor of Siskel and Ebert I'm giving you 2 thumbs up for not making the mods give me another warning xD.

It's a different team now and they'll play a different schedule too so this year's record will really only tell us about this year's Vikings. The debate will just have to rage on!

I mean no offense but it sounds like you're eager to draw a conclusion about the offense that's premature after one preseason game, with one drive as it's basis.

Be honest, other fans really can't win with you no matter what they say, can they? When they're negative you tell them how unreasonable they are and when they're optimistic, well you pretty much tell them how unreasonable they are lol. Dude, should we just PM you our responses for approval ahead of time or what? Then you can go ahead and stamp them. "This post is Mothman approved" or like one of those political ads, "I'm Mothman, and I approve this message".

I have little doubt that Turner is a better offensive coordinator than Musgrave so we can certainly agree about that much.

Whoa! How can you draw that conclusion already? Isn't it a bit early? Plus they didn't have the EXACT same players, coaches, playbooks, and schedules to work with. I don't think a fair comparison can ever be made. you've just been Mothmaned lol

Its REALLY early to have much of any opinion, but BOY I am optimistic about our new coaches! We are moving out of the stone age, speeding up play on offense AND defense, and (I hear) finally getting to ready to use AP in more creative ways! I just pray our secondary is truly upgraded. Its the one area I don't quite drink the Kool-Aid yet.......

That pretty much sums up how I feel about the coaching change. We finally left the 20th century NFL behind and upgraded to a 21st century model. I'm looking forward to seeing AD run from more spread type formations instead of from those walls of humanity that Frazier/Musgrave seemed to fancy. You can only watch AD run into a pile of his own blockers so many times before you want to see something different. And it was already refreshing to see the pass defense consistently make plays on the ball rather than just sit and watch the QB play catch with his receivers all the way down field. I think we caused more 3 n outs in 1 preseason game than we did the entire season last year.

[Mothman]

Reignman, you keep trying to provoke me and it's tiresome.

If you really like casting bait, take up fishing. It's fun!

[Webbfann]

Classic. You have just been Mothmanned. Haven't we all?

[Dirtyswabby]

Not to be a negative nancy or anything. But im apprehensive about the new coaching staff. I want to like them, but I also wanted to like Frazier as well. Im not going to make a judgement until the end of the year. I hope Zimmer works out, but the vikings have terrible luck across the board.

[Funkytown]

Not to be a negative nancy or anything. But im apprehensive about the new coaching staff. I want to like them, but I also wanted to like Frazier as well. Im not going to make a judgement until the end of the year. I hope Zimmer works out, but the vikings have terrible luck across the board.

It's understandable to be a little cautious. However, I hope they have you buying in before the end of the year.

Heck, for some of us, it only took one preseason game, against the Raiders . lol. You'll get there!

[losperros]

It's understandable to be a little cautious. However, I hope they have you buying in before the end of the year.

Heck, for some of us, it only took one preseason game, against the Raiders . lol. You'll get there!

I'm apprehensive about the new coaching staff, too.

OTOH, I'm having fun watching them put together a new version of the team. Their philosophy sounds valid. I just hope it works.

[Mothman]

I'm apprehensive about the new coaching staff, too.

OTOH, I'm having fun watching them put together a new version of the team. Their philosophy sounds valid. I just hope it works.

Same here but I'm apprehensive too. Maybe we've just been burned by the Vikes too many times.