Posts tagged: Brendan Daly

Guion’s Move To Nose Tackle Of Mutual Interest

March 15, 2012, by 5 comments

As if Letroy Guion’s three year contract, worth $9 million, wasn’t a big enough hint that Vikings plan to expand his role, we now have confirmation that he will be competing for the starting nose tackle gig with Remi Ayodele.

Guion had previously occupied the three technique position, mostly as a backup to Kevin Williams, and pulled spot duty as a nose tackle but the move sounds like it will be putting him somewhere that he is more comfortable.

“I don’t like it. I love it,” said Guion on Wednesday. “I love the close-quarter combat. Less space than a three technique. I can see the ball better. Read the offensive line better. And I feel more comfortable at nose than at a three-technique.”

Guion, age 24, was drafted in the sixth round in 2008 out of Florida State.  At the time, he was regarded as extremely gifted but also extremely raw, and it appears that the Vikings still have faith he can develop under new defensive line coach Brendan Daly.

“He’s an extremely talented athlete,” Rick Spielman said following the agreement. “I know when we had meetings on all of our personnel, we still think there’s a huge, huge upside to Letroy.”

In his four seasons with the Vikings, Guion has three starts, all of which came last season.  He has flashed at moments, but has yet to be a consistent contributor on the defense.

Senior Bowl Practice #1

January 23, 2012, by 8 comments

I want to take a look around the web at what others are saying about the prospects at the Senior Bowl practices, as well as the Vikings coaches who are in charge of the North squad.  Because Vikings Territory doesn’t actually have anybody at the, you know… Senior Bowl, I will be sure to link each note to its proper source.

  • Okay, we’ll start off by playing a little catch up.  Cornerback Josh Norman (Coastal Carolina) is 6’ 1” and 203 pounds, and managed to make a name for himself at the East-West Shrine Game played last week.  Here is an interesting interview with the small school prospect, and as I am writing this I am listening to Mike Mayock talk about how Norman could sneak into the second round and will likely be in the top 100 on every team’s draft board.
  • Here is a video, courtesy of Tom Pelissero at 1500 ESPN, of Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman addressing their team on the night prior to their first practice.
  • Speak of Pelissero, he is under the impression that the Vikings are paying special attention to the wide receivers and the cornerbacks on their squad.  No real shocker there.  Why is he under that impression?  Because Frazier told him so.  “Corners, wide receivers — we’re going to take a hard look at those positions,” Frazier said. “We really need to get some help in that area, but we’re going to also look at the offensive line. There are some offensive linemen here we need to look at that may be able to help us, and even the linebacker position as well.”
  • Leslie Frazier says he is taking advantage of the Senior Bowl to treat it as a minicamp for his coaching staff.  He wants to work out the “kinks” which may, or may not, consist of having Mike Singletary and Fred Pagac return to the team in different roles than what they held last season.
  • Karl Dunbar was at the practice despite being unemployed after being fired by the Vikings.  New defensive line coach Brendan Daly is contrasting the laid back style of Dunbar by providing some fire.  “Lot of energy,” Frazier said of Daly. “Lot of enthusiasm.”
  • Offensive line coach Jeff Davidson is the only member of the Vikings coaching staff that is not present in Mobile this week.  He had hip replacement surgery on Friday.
  • When it comes to who looked the best wearing no clothes and being measured and weighed, look no further than Appalachian State wide receiver Brian Quick.  He measured in at 6’ 3.5” and 222 pounds, with 33.5” arms (which is long, by the way).  Quick is thought to be a mid-round prospect, but he could be a fast riser this offseason if his production matches his physical attributes.
  • Here are some more specifics on the results of the weigh-in process.
  • Normally I would be scouring the internet for information on which players the Vikings are meeting with in Mobile.  With the Vikings coaching this year, however, that list simply includes all the prospects playing for the North team and none of the players playing for the South.  For what prospects other teams are interested in, go ahead and click here.
  • There were mixed reviews of the defensive backs and offensive linemen playing for Frazier’s team in their first practice.  The wide receivers, however, all seemed to be impressive according to Walterfootball.com.
  • Sporting News gives you five guys that helped themselves on Monday and five more that hurt themselves.  Check out their report by clicking here.

Alan Williams Hired As Defensive Coordinator As Personnel Changes End

January 21, 2012, by 5 comments

A few weeks into the offseason, the Vikings are done making personnel changes after hiring Alan Williams as defensive coordinator and Brendan Daly as the defensive line coach. Before I jump into more details about the two new Vikings coaches (although, one of them was previously a Vikings coach in 2006-08), below is a quick recap of the few changes that were made to personnel.

  1. Karl Dunbar is fired as defensive line coach.
  2. Vikings interview anyone and everyone for the defensive coordinator position (while Fred Pagac officially holds the position)
  3. Fred Pagac is officially demoted to linebackers coach
  4. Alan Williams and Brendan Daly rumors surface. Mike Singletary remains Vikings Assistant Head Coach.
  5. Alan Williams and Brendan Daly officially announced as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, respectively.

The Alan Williams and the Brendan Daly signings should be no surprise as the Vikings, for the longest time, are apparently only capable of hiring friends.

Alan Williams was previously the Colts defensive backs coach for 10 years. For two of those years, Leslie Frazier worked with Williams (including the Colts team that won the Super Bowl in 2006-07).

Williams will have his work cut out for him as the Vikings tote one of the NFL’s worst pass defenses. Hopefully, with the addition of a long-time defensive backs coach, the Vikings depleted secondary will receive some attention this offseason and can come back as a stronger unit in 2012. The hiring of Williams ensures that the Vikings will remain a 4-3, Tampa-2 style defense as that is what Williams ran with the Colts.

Brendan Daly, who was an assistant defensive line coach for the Vikings from 2006-08, was hired back to replace Dunbar as the defensive line coach. He comes from being the defensive line coach with St. Louis Rams from 2009-11. It should be noted that Daly was with the Vikings as an assistant defensive line coach during a stretch of time where they were the NFL’s best run defense.

For my own personal opinion on the additions to the Vikings personnel, continue reading by clicking the button below.

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Vikings Defense Gains Two, Loses None

January 18, 2012, by 2 comments

A long drawn out process that featured a handful of candidates (and no, I’m not talking about the GOP race to the White House) has finally come to an end, with the Vikings hiring former Colts defensive backs coach Alan Williams as their new Defensive Coordinator.

After 10 years in Indianapolis, Williams is widely expected to officially join the Vikings shortly, in time to go to Mobile, Alabama and coach the North squad at the Senior Bowl.

Last year’s Defensive Coordinator, Fred Pagac, will return to be Minnesota’s linebackers coach.  He occupied this position for four years prior to 2011.

Mike Singletary, also interviewed as a candidate for the Coordinator position, will remain with the Vikings as an Assistant Head Coach.

Brendan Daly will replace Karl Dunbar as the defensive line coach.  Daly has held that position in St. Louis for the last three seasons, and previous to that was an assistant defensive line coach for the Vikings.

The Vikings defense is unlikely to experience much in the way of a scheme change, as Leslie Frazier has managed to maintain a staff that supports his preference of running a Cover-2 defense.