It’s a lovely New Year’s Eve somewhere in New Jersey. Mark and Zygi Wilf are sitting in a high rise, cracking open a bottle of champagne and toasting to a successful year.
“Well, Zygi,” Mark Wilf began while pouring a glass. “This beats where we were last year.”
Mark Wilf is right. A year ago, the Minnesota Vikings were in shambles. The end of the Mike Zimmer era was approaching, and the Vikings were slogging their way through the final weeks of an 8-9 season.
With 2023 approaching, the Vikings are in a much different spot. At 12-3, the Vikings are marching toward the playoffs and celebrating their first NFC North title since 2017. The vibes are immaculate (as the kids would say), and there are plenty of things to look forward to. But although there is excitement over where the Vikings could end up in 2023, Zygi Wilf is stuck in a moment of reflection.
“The success is great,” Zygi Wilf admitted. “But remember when we were going to promote Rick Spielman?”
Mark Wilf was so stunned he nearly dropped his glass. How could he forget the rumors toward the end of 2021 that the Vikings were considering creating a new position for Spielman so that he could oversee football operations?
It was a decision that altered the course of Vikings history. It could have led to the same status quo that had produced several mediocre seasons. With Spielman in charge, he might not have had the foresight to take a chance on a 37-year-old wunderkind named Kevin O’Connell.
Could Spielman have gone an alternate route, such as hiring Doug Pederson to replace Zimmer? Or would he have had the same foresight to take a chance on O’Connell?
Whatever the decision, it would have been more interesting to see what Spielman would have done at quarterback. In the weeks after his firing, Spielman made an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show and hinted that Cousins may not have the ability to lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl.
“I think he’s a very talented quarterback,” Spielman said. “He has a lot of great qualities. I think he’s one of the most accurate throwers in the league. You watch some of the tape and some of the throws he makes under pressure [but] I think some of the other things is that he has to have a strong supporting cast around him.”
If Spielman decided to go another direction, it could have also been disastrous for the Vikings. Spielman’s history of finding quarterbacks has been lined with whiffs, from signing Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees in 2006 to selecting Christian Ponder 12th overall in the 2011 draft.
The weeks leading up to last year’s draft also had clues that Spielman was on the lookout for a new signal caller as he evaluated Nevada’s Carson Strong and talked up Liberty’s Malik Willis on the way to becoming a Tik Tok sensation.
Strong wound up going undrafted, but the Tennessee Titans picked Willis – in the third round. They also benched Willis for Josh Dobbs in Thursday night’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys, validating the view of every NFL general manager who passed on him multiple times.
In the end, the Vikings stunned everyone – including Spielman – by firing him along with Zimmer after the 2021 season and embarked on a new era of Vikings football.
“Man, that was a close one,” Mark Wilf said while staring at something a little stronger to drink. “But remember when we almost hired that college coach?”
“You mean Jim Harbaugh?” Zygi Wilf said. “Yeah, that guy was insane.”
“No, not that one,” Mark Wilf said. “The OTHER college coach.”
It was Zygi Wilf’s turn to be amazed as he flashed back to a January trip to the Bahamas. The Wilfs allegedly had made a trip that would have made Carmen Sandiego blush. They were reportedly meeting someone who may have had an interest in the Vikings’ head coaching position – Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin has been known for being college football’s puddle jumper over his coaching career, with stops at USC, Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, and Mississippi. The thought of him returning to the NFL to avenge a failed stint with the Oakland Raiders seemed like a perfect opportunity for the 47-year-old.
PFF’s Brad Spielberger fanned the flames on Twitter while Mike Ryan of The Dan LeBatard Show doubled down with his hot take.
“I truly believe Lane Kiffin is probably going to be the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings,” Ryan proclaimed. “The reason why I think this is because of all the assistants leaving the Mississippi staff, and I was told, ‘Look out for the Minnesota Vikings job.’”
An offensive mastermind, Kiffin would have checked at least one of the boxes for the Vikings’ coaching search, but he never made it to Minnesota. Kiffin remained in Oxford, leading the Rebels to an 8-5 record before swatting away more rumors that he accepted a job at Auburn.
“That’s another good one,” Zygi Wilf said. “But do you remember when Ryan Poles wanted to blow this team up?”
“I sure do,” Mark Wilf said. “Eric Kendricks, Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen…”
“Adam Thielen!?” Zygi Wilf shrieked. “He’s from Minnesota!”
“I know!” Mark Wilf acknowledged. “It would have been incredible, but not as bad as getting rid of Kirk.”
At this time one year ago, the future of Cousins was unknown. The quarterback carousel spun so fast that by the time Russell Wilson landed in Denver, all he could say was, “Let’s ride.” It was so crazy that even the Vikings reportedly kicked the tires on Deshaun Watson. The quarterback carousel was so ridiculous the Indianapolis Colts decided to try Matt Ryan’s corpse under center rather than trading for Cousins.
But the craziest rumor may have come from the Carolina Panthers and their pursuit of Cousins. When SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad reported that the Panthers had interest, a concurrent report said that Matt Rhule and his staff laughed hysterically.
“While there were reports that the Panthers inquired about Cousins in Minnesota, two sources said that call never occurred,” Jonathan M. Alexander of The Charlotte Observer wrote. “The coaching staff and front office were actually in a meeting when they heard the news and laughed it off.”
Zygi and Mark Wilf looked at each other before bursting out in their own laughter.
“Who’s laughing now?” Zygi joked while raising his glass.
The two billionaires raised their glasses while the ball dropped in New York and looked ahead to the future. With a new general manager and head coach leading the way, it appears that more good times are ahead in 2023.
