Early this season, members of the Vikings secondary weren’t too confident in the approach that defensive coordinator Fred Pagac took with his coverage calls.
So they ignored him.
Tom Pelissero of espn1500.com writes that a group of players simply refused to play the defenses called, yelling out their own coverages as they broke the huddle. The players didn’t like the frequency and timing of some man coverage and blitz concept calls.
Minnesota’s struggles in the second halves of games were blamed on coaches failing to adjust. Leslie Frazier eventually took over some playcalling duties in November, but the damage was done.
Changes are coming to the Vikings defense in the offseason. We’re starting to get a clearer picture of what those changes might entail. Pelissero writes there have been discussions about transitioning to a 3-4 defense with Mike Singletary getting promoted to defensive coordinator. The catch:
“There also are strong concerns within the building about Singletary’s aptitude for the position,” Pelissero writes.
It’s also unclear whether Leslie Frazier, who comes from a a Tampa-2 background, would be open to the change.
It’s more clear that getting rid of Brad Childress didn’t eliminate dysfunction in Minnesota.