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The greeting aft 1 of his team’s astir spirit-shaking losses arsenic Minnesota Vikings coach, Leslie Frazier gathered his unit and aboriginal his players with a connection of reassurance. The erstwhile day — successful Week 13 of the 2012 play — the Vikings mislaid to the Green Bay Packers 23-14 astatine Lambeau Field. They squandered 210 rushing yards from Adrian Peterson. Quarterback Christian Ponder threw 2 interceptions and went 7 consecutive possessions without a completion. The defence allowed 435 full yards.
The Vikings had mislaid 5 times successful 7 games. A 4-1 commencement was slipping distant — quickly. Yet connected the archetypal Monday of December, Frazier greeted his squad with enthusiasm.
“You watch,” helium said. “We’re getting acceptable to instrumentality off.”
That forecast seemed incongruent with the caller results. But Frazier knew the chemistry that squad had. He had seen their resoluteness and committedness done hard moments.
Frazier knew playoff DNA erstwhile helium saw it. He won a Super Bowl arsenic a subordinate with the Chicago Bears successful 1985 and arsenic an adjunct with the Indianapolis Colts 21 seasons later. And helium was definite the optimism helium felt for his radical wasn’t hollow.
Sure, helium could person tally an hour’s worthy of video with mistakes the Vikings made the erstwhile day, errors that confirmed they deserved to lose. But successful the moment, Frazier knew his squad needed some a assistance and a world check. “Rather than them proceeding maine speech astir what we didn’t bash right,” helium said, “I told them I thought we had turned the corner.”
Around that country was a 21-14 decision of the Chicago Bears followed by a 36-22 roadworthy throttling of the St. Louis Rams. The adjacent Sunday, the Vikings took down the Texans 23-6.
Finally, successful Week 17, successful a chaotic shootout against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers astatine the Metrodome, the Vikings stole a 37-34 upset, a melodramatic triumph sealed connected a last-second tract extremity that pushed the Vikings into the postseason portion eliminating the 10-6 Bears from the playoff party.
In Frazier’s 54 games arsenic an NFL caput coach, that was undoubtedly the signature victory, the exclamation constituent connected his “You watch” vow. That agelong — an undefeated December successful which the Vikings trailed for lone 4 minutes, 31 seconds — was a testament to Frazier’s leadership, the mode helium connects with players, his quality to crook imaginativeness into reality. That stirring Monday meeting, astatine a pivotal constituent successful a astonishing season, provided a spark.
“Immediately determination was bully energy,” said Kyle Rudolph, past a rookie choky end. “I don’t deliberation determination was anyone connected our squad who doubted we were going to triumph that adjacent game.”
That’s a agelong mode backmost now, of course. But it’s a communicative worthy sharing arsenic buzz elevates wrong league circles astir the imaginable of Frazier getting different accidental to instrumentality to the caput coaching ranks during the upcoming hiring cycle. The Bears fig to person a vacancy erstwhile the regular play ends successful a week and a half, apt to portion ways with Matt Nagy aft 4 seasons. And nary substance who astatine Halas Hall ends up overseeing a coaching search, Frazier deserves superior consideration.
‘Leslie is special’
As an NFL coach, Frazier has spent the past 23 seasons establishing a estimation arsenic 1 of the brighter, astir sincere and grounded leaders successful the league.
As antiaircraft coordinator successful Buffalo for the past 5 seasons, helium has been instrumental successful molding the Bills into 1 of the apical units successful the league. Heading into Week 17, nary squad has allowed less yards than the 287.9 per crippled fixed up by the Bills. Frazier’s portion besides ranks 3rd successful takeaways. They person finished successful the apical 10 of that class during each play helium has been connected post.
With the Bills warring for the AFC East crown and perchance positioned to marque a tally astatine Super Bowl LVI, the coming weeks volition beryllium influential successful conscionable however overmuch Frazier’s banal whitethorn rise. Still, determination has been a content successful respective circles for a portion present that Frazier is not lone deserving of different caput coaching accidental but that helium volition thrive erstwhile helium gets it.
One of the astir heartfelt endorsements comes from Tony Dungy, a longtime person and a steadfast believer successful Frazier’s enactment approach.
Dungy ever has respected Frazier’s connection skills and composed deportment. Dungy recalls lasting beside Colts President and wide manager Bill Polian astatine the 2005 Senior Bowl and wondering aloud wherefore Frazier had conscionable been dismissed arsenic the Cincinnati Bengals antiaircraft coordinator and wasn’t being flooded with opportunities.
“I was telling Bill, ‘I conscionable can’t judge this. This feline is truthful good,’ ” Dungy said. “Bill looked astatine maine and said, ‘Well, we ought to prosecute him.’ I told him we didn’t person immoderate spots open. And helium said, ‘Well, if he’s that good, we’ll marque a spot.’ ”
Not agelong after, the Colts hired Frazier arsenic a peculiar adjunct to the caput coach. He worked intimately with young secondary manager Alan Williams and was a invaluable sounding committee for Dungy crossed galore areas for 2 seasons, including the Colts’ tally to the Super Bowl XLI crown successful 2006.
“Things weren’t ever rosy for america that year,” Dungy said. “I retrieve losing a crippled 44-17 to Jacksonville toward the extremity of the twelvemonth and giving up astir 400 yards rushing. Then we sat down, talked astir staying the course, and Les was influential successful determining what we needed to do. He was specified a calming power for me. Helped america triumph the Super Bowl.”
Dungy believes it’d beryllium casual to link the dots connected a Frazier instrumentality to Chicago.
Frazier’s profound respect for the Bears enactment and his passionateness for Chicago is casual to understand. He is the arrogant proprietor of a Super Bowl XX ring, contributing a team-high six interceptions to the vaunted ‘85 Bears defense. For that group, Frazier was a softspoken and wide respected workhorse connected a squad afloat of larger-than-life characters. He developed a afloat appreciation for however the Bears, astatine the tallness of their grandest success, fueled the city.
Still, arsenic overmuch arsenic anything, his cognition of the crippled and his thrill for coaching came from antiaircraft coordinator Buddy Ryan, whose quality to perceive enhanced his awesome motivational and strategical skills.
“It was ne'er ‘My mode oregon the highway,’ ” Frazier said of Ryan during his archetypal play arsenic a caput coach. “And what happened from that, it created a enslaved wherever we arsenic players felt similar helium was 1 of us. Though determination was ever tremendous respect, we didn’t ever spot him arsenic our coach. As a player, you had this genuine feeling helium truly wanted you to win due to the fact that of the mode helium listened.”
Over time, Frazier remembered that arsenic helium molded his coaching style. As a caput coach, helium empowered his coordinators and developed a enslaved with his strongest squad leaders.
“Leslie is special,” Dungy said. “With his transportation to the Bears and knowing that city, the enactment and the mentality there, I don’t cognize however you couldn’t springiness him superior consideration. … Les knows however to galvanize people. He brings players together. And helium has ever had a bully imaginativeness for however to get the astir retired of people.”
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When the Vikings dismissed Frazier the time aft the 2013 squad finished 5-10-1, helium near his last gathering with players to a resounding circular of applause, not ever the reception a manager with a 21-32-1 wide grounds gets. But it was a testament to the mode helium connected, to the mode helium led, to the mode helium not lone gave players opportunities but positioned them to marque the astir of them.
Even astatine that time, aft a backslide season, galore of Frazier’s players, coaches and others astir the league expressed anticipation that helium 1 time would get different accidental to beryllium the caput manager for a squad with its backmost presumption stabilized. That was, aft all, a dense anchor that kept the Vikings’ vessel from charting a title course.
In 54 games arsenic Vikings coach, Frazier was connected a hyper-speed carousel that saw the Vikings usage six starters — from Brett Favre to Joe Webb to Donovan McNabb to Christian Ponder to Matt Cassel to Josh Freeman.
So what mightiness Frazier beryllium susceptible of if helium could pat into his enactment abilities without having to walk truthful overmuch clip pushing to stabilize his team’s astir important position?
In Chicago, with Justin Fields presently established arsenic the Bears starting backmost for 2022 and beyond, immoderate level of stableness should exist. It would beryllium up to Frazier, a defensive-minded coach, to assemble a talented violative unit that could some catalyze and maximize Fields’ development. But astatine the precise least, Frazier would person his accidental to utilize Fields arsenic the team’s springboard.
Dungy stressed that erstwhile helium is asked to talk to NFL owners oregon wide managers oregon hunt firms successful their quests to capable caput coaching vacancies, helium warns them against being single-minded successful the pursuit of an offensively talented manager who tin instrumentality their backmost to a caller level. Instead, helium tells them, place a person with an quality to spot a bigger representation and energize a team.
“If a manager knows however to pb the team, helium tin hole the quarterback,” Dungy said. “The past I heard, I don’t deliberation Bill Belichick is simply a quarterbacks coach. But helium has enjoyed immoderate beauteous bully play astatine that presumption and helium knows however to get the astir retired of his quarterbacks.
“Pete Carroll isn’t a quarterbacks manager but has had immoderate teams with immoderate incredibly dynamic offenses. Those guys cognize however to lead. And they cognize however to enactment radical successful positions to get the astir retired of their quarterback.”
Frazier, Dungy believes, is much than deserving of different accidental astatine the caput coaching role.
“In this business, we speech truthful overmuch astir the relationships and the harmony needed betwixt a GM, a caput coach, an proprietor and however that has to beryllium successful place,” Dungy said. “You’d person to hunt agelong and hard to find idiosyncratic who wouldn’t beryllium capable to enactment with Leslie Frazier.”
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