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I am surprised. I guess KOC and KAM do have the "juevos". They are not Rick and Zim ! 1 year in... I am now even more impressed with these 2.
I am eagerly awaiting the next DC hiring as well as the off-season moves.

I would guess that they will hire someone very soon, been hearing rumors of interest in Wisconsin D coordinator Jim Leonhard, who has no experience in coaching in the NFL, but has a good resume in the college ranks.

Surprised it took them that long to fire him. His defense never improved all season. It was the same almost Keystone Cops routine in the secondary all year. In fact, it might have gotten worse as the season went on.

I do wonder if Donatell put himself in a bad situation to an extent, though. When KOC hired Donatell he stated he did so because he (KOC) wanted to run a 3-4 defense and he thought Donatell was a good teacher for that type of defense. So if Donatell is/was a good teacher for that type of defense and the defense apparently didn't take to his teaching, is that because Donatell suddenly couldn't teach or KOC forced a defensive scheme on players who for whatever reason just weren't well-suited to execute it? In other words, you can use a dog for hunting and a horse for pulling, but if you try to hunt with a horse or pull with a dog, what you can and can't accomplish will necessarily change.

I think the other factor is the familiarity of the players with a given system. Eric Kendricks never played in a 3-4 as a pro. Neither did Danielle Hunter. The 3-4 asks different things of the front seven as compared to the 4-3, especially at the linebacker and end positions. You take guys who have a lot of experience in one system and put them into a different system and they might struggle to do certain things, and when offensive coordinators figure out where they struggle they can be exploited, sometimes consistently and easily. Donatell can teach, but the players also have to learn and if they don't, well, you have a recipe for the ongoing struggles we saw all year.

Is it possible that the real culprit for the struggles of the defense was KOC himself and his insistence on implementing a scheme for which many of his key veteran defensive players were ill-equipped to execute more than Ed Donatell and his seeming inability to adjust to obvious issues as the season went on?

While firing Donatell certainly feels appropriate, I'm still concerned because a part of me wonders if Donatell was the fall guy for KOC's decision to force players into a scheme that didn't fit their talent and experience. If he hires someone else to be DC and yet imposes his will on that person rather than letting him assess the talent he has and adapting a scheme to fit that talent, we might get the same outcome next year.

Here's hoping KOC also learned from his first season as head coach. Here's hoping he learned he is not a defensive coordinator and shouldn't be pre-determining the best defensive alignments for whomever he hires as his next defensive coordinator. Let that guy assess the talent and decide how to best utilize it. Hire someone who displays a defensive mind and not implements a defensive dogma. The Vikings already had that rigid and willful approach under Zimmer. They don't need more of that even if the new head coach is supposedly more creative or responsive to the players. It comes down to winning and winning comes down to maximizing the talent you have.

Husker Vike wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 7:15 pm I would guess that they will hire someone very soon, been hearing rumors of interest in Wisconsin D coordinator Jim Leonhard, who has no experience in coaching in the NFL, but has a good resume in the college ranks.

Heard that one too.

I am completely relieved that they made this decision and had the huevos to pull the trigger. It had to be done.

I've heard/read the Leonhard stuff too. I'd be all for bringing him in and them getting a feel for him. I think he makes a jump to the NFL after Wisconsin went with Fickell and how that all played out. Leonhard is a pretty respected guy at this point in his career. GB had interest a season or two ago.

I also wonder, like VL said above, if there was ever a point where Donatell said to KAM/KOC...for a 3-4 to work we need x and y type guys, and they said well sorry, you are gonna have to work with a and b type guys. We all know that a 3-4 requires specific players, especially those OLB. Who knows the truth, we probably won't ever.

The lack of adjustments is what frustrated me the most. The scheme also didn't appear to ever put people in the best places for their skill sets. Didn't maximize them. IMHO that's the job of a coach/scheme. I also didn't play past smaller college ball, so I won't act like I'm some expert being paid a ton of money to evaluate nfl players.

I think this is the right move.

Husker Vike wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 7:15 pm I would guess that they will hire someone very soon, been hearing rumors of interest in Wisconsin D coordinator Jim Leonhard, who has no experience in coaching in the NFL, but has a good resume in the college ranks.

I honestly do not know I feel about that, I want Vikings to hire a defensive coordinator that has experience in the NFL

I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a firing. I feel like weight has been lifted off my shoulders….. and I’m nothing but a fan

Pondering Her Percy wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:04 pm I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a firing. I feel like weight has been lifted off my shoulders….. and I’m nothing but a fan

Really? Not even Leslie Frazier?

Great news! Says a lot about KOC and Kam to do this, its couldnt have been easy to do their first coaching firing.

MossCarterJefferson wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:26 pm

Pondering Her Percy wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:04 pm I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a firing. I feel like weight has been lifted off my shoulders….. and I’m nothing but a fan

Really? Not even Leslie Frazier?

Haha idk man, this was much needed. Leslie and zimmer I wanted gone at the respective times but this one was an extreme want lol

Leonhard means one 3-4 to another 3-4. Same sh!t different day. I get the feeling it will be Mike Pettine. That means a 3-4 also but KOC wants that scheme. Donatell was just a fall guy patsy no more than that. If we stick with the same scheme it means nothing.

CharVike wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 12:36 am Leonhard means one 3-4 to another 3-4. Same sh!t different day. I get the feeling it will be Mike Pettine. That means a 3-4 also but KOC wants that scheme. Donatell was just a fall guy patsy no more than that. If we stick with the same scheme it means nothing.

This team's defense sucked in 2020 and 2021 in a 4-3 too. I guess maybe they blitzed more while they sucked.

Cliff wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 7:26 am

CharVike wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 12:36 am Leonhard means one 3-4 to another 3-4. Same sh!t different day. I get the feeling it will be Mike Pettine. That means a 3-4 also but KOC wants that scheme. Donatell was just a fall guy patsy no more than that. If we stick with the same scheme it means nothing.

This team's defense sucked in 2020 and 2021 in a 4-3 too. I guess maybe they blitzed more while they sucked.

Losing Hunter was a big blow. The guy is a good player. If they think 3-4 is the way to go fine. Better get 4 LBers and stop sticking NT/DT at DE. Get a dominate NT so you can stop the run. Basically start over.