EAGAN, Minn. — Twenty years ago, Minnesota Vikings co-owner and chairman Zygi Wilf gathered with reporters at a table inside the swanky dining room at the nearby Interlachen Country Club. Members of the media wanted to know how to think about the team’s new leadership structure.
Wilf reached for the silverware. He positioned a fork, spoon and knife in the shape of a triangle.
Each segment of the shape represented one of the team’s primary decision-makers: the head coach, the personnel director and the salary-cap analyst. Locally, this scene carried lore, with Zygi’s picture referred to as the “Triangle of Authority.” Its longevity is partially a byproduct of the result.
The structure failed. Miserably.
Fran Foley, whom the Vikings hired to run personnel (over then-Green Bay Packers executive and future Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider), held his job for three months. The head coach at the time, Brad Childress, assumed that role as well.
These circumstances set up for a seemingly endless cycle of siloes, egos and struggle. Over the years, the names have changed, but the problems continued. Incongruent personalities at the top — and questions about who made decisions and why — are perhaps as much a defining characteristic of recent Vikings history as Adrian Peterson’s rushing dominance and Justin Jefferson’s route-running savvy.
To sum up the last two decades, Vikings ownership has twisted the Rubik’s Cube time and time again like a hopeful child, unable to find the right combination.
Co-owner and president Mark Wilf knows this. It’s why, during new general manager Nolan Teasley’s introductory press conference Wednesday, he gave this response to a fourth consecutive question regarding who reports to whom: “If it comes to structure, we’ve got a problem, OK? The end result is making sure leaders collaborate and work together.”
With their latest spin of the cube, the Vikings placed Teasley at the top of the pyramid. Ownership believes his football acumen and his learning experiences with the Seahawks will establish tried-and-true processes and modes of communication that will be easy for the coaches, especially head coach Kevin O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores, to get behind.
“I think we have it all put together in a great way,” Mark Wilf said. “I’m confident that this is a great move for the Minnesota Vikings.”
Teasley will oversee the football operations department. His scouting expertise gives him an understanding of what’s required from an intel-gathering perspective. Crossover with performance science and analytics in Seattle will offer him a baseline expectation of the types of employees he needs in those areas.
Ownership also granted him final say on the 53-man roster, though Teasley reiterated that he will seek extensive direction in that area from the coaching staff.
Meanwhile, executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski will support Teasley on negotiating and salary-cap matters. Wednesday, Teasley highlighted Brzezinski’s experience and called him an “incredible asset” and the “ultimate team player,” speaking to the consensus-building nature the Wilfs envisioned with Teasley’s hiring.
“You’re anchored by process so that everybody understands the foundation of it all,” Teasley said. “If you have disagreements, you go back to the beginning. You start over. We work together until we have that consensus. And ultimately, if you don’t build that (consensus) at decision-making time, that’s part of our process. We’re not moving forward with that particular acquisition.”
Poetically, this description matches how the Vikings’ ownership group landed here in the first place. In 2012, the Wilf family arrived at a fork in the road with its triumvirate of experts, who shared an equal amount of influence. So, they put Rick Spielman in the primary general manager seat. He remained until his relationship with former head coach Mike Zimmer reached an untenable stage.
At that point, the Vikings swung for the fences with a data-oriented, outside-the-box candidate in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. His non-scouting background never quite meshed with the largely preexisting staff. An eye-popping draft-night trade further torpedoed his attempts to build bridges. By the end, even though Adofo-Mensah finished with a 43-25 record during his tenure, tension and siloed decision-making became too much to overcome. Vikings ownership decided to spin the cube again.
A search firm, TurnkeyZRG, helped the Vikings identify candidates. During their interviews, the executives were asked to describe specific acquisitions. O’Connell participated in the process, elevating the depth of the football conversations and assessing the tone of what a potential partnership would look like.
“I know the responsibilities that I have,” O’Connell said. “And one of those is to build a unique relationship where it’s built on trust, and it’s built on a level of personal responsibility to be competent in your role for the greater good of others. Now, we support each other.”
O’Connell’s comments speak to his understanding that his malleability here will factor prominently in the outcome. His open-mindedness to alternate viewpoints will be essential. Deferring to another person on personnel has the potential not only to lighten the load on O’Connell, but also to generate roster-building ideas that might not have emerged otherwise.
At the same time, Teasley knows he must assess the team’s scouting infrastructure. Solid decisions are only as good as the information they’re based on, and Teasley confirmed the Vikings would be guided by evaluation and anchored by data. He outlined his vision with concision, talking about fortifying depth, building through the draft and supplementing the roster via free agency.
Optimism is warranted, especially with the glowing reviews from executives and agents around the NFL. It’s also natural. Without hope, what do you have? Without hope, why would it be sensible to think that this structure, the latest twist of the Rubik’s Cube, would unlock the path these Twin Cities have always coveted?
