I'll bet this could give Art a woody...

[Dirk Diggler]

Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice met last week with team owner Red McCombs in San Antonio to discuss the state of the franchise, and as a result McCombs agreed to give Tice carte blanche in any coaching-related decision. And it didn't take Tice long to flex his muscles, firing defensive coordinator Willie Shaw and replacing him with longtime friend George O'Leary.

George O'Leary has been tabbed to run the Vikings' defense, but how long will he be around?

"We've decided to go in another direction and make a change as it pertains to philosophy, schemes," Tice told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

But is O'Leary the right man to revive the long-dead tradition of stout defense in the Twin Cities?

O'Leary certainly doesn't have the pro résumé of his predecessor, Shaw. On the collegiate level he was once voted coach of the year, but in the NFL he's never been anything more than a defensive line coach. But he has achieved success in that post.

At his earlier stop in San Diego, the Chargers' line thrived under him, and this year he helped significantly improve the play of the front four. When Tice hired his former high school coach, he did so with the intent of building a defensive line that would be able to stop the run. In one season under O'Leary's tutelage, the Vikings went from the 30th ranked run defense to 10th overall.

However, Shaw was no stranger to dramatic turnarounds himself. In 1998, Shaw took over a Raiders unit that ranked 30th in total defense (382.2 yards per game). In his first season as the team's defensive coordinator, the team had the league's fifth-best total defense, allowing just 284.4 yards per game. But Shaw's inability to mimic that feat eventually led to his downfall.

O'Leary will be asked to tighten up a 26th-ranked defense that was improving near the end of the year, but still is short on overall talent. The job could take years, but no one knows whether O'Leary will be around for the rebuilding process, and that has to be a concern.

Tice hired O'Leary after the Notre Dame résumé scandal and assumed O'Leary would get another opportunity to coach a major college program in 2003. However, suitors weren't lined up at O'Leary's door with job offers. But next year might be different, and if O'Leary does leave for a head coaching job in the NCAA nest season (a very real possibility), the Vikings would then need to hire its third defensive coordinator in as many years.

One possible reason for the move could be financial. McCombs is actively trying to sell the team unless he gets a new stadium, so he's intent on working on a thin budget. O'Leary will keep his job as line coach, thereby allowing one man to do two jobs. The same thing happened with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, who took over the responsibilities as quarterbacks coach when the team fired Alex Wood.

Tice disagrees with that supposition.

"There was speculation jobs were being cut because of the budget," Tice told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "But I have 16 coaches like last year."

But it's a good bet that the overall expenditure on coaches will be less than it was this season.

[Art]

Willie Shaw would fit in with the Redskins like a glove. His style of coaching is well-suited for this defense. It won't happen. But, he was my top realistic choice last year. I'd love him to be brought on and to eventually replace Marvin .

[Thinking Skins]

Weren't the Vikings just sold to McCombs? I seem to remember Denny Green being hired by a different owner and then McCombs bought the team and wanted to fire Green, but gave him a few years to do so first.

[DeathByLinebacker]

O'Leary certainly doesn't have the pro résumé of his predecessor

:laugh: