Coaching Wait Continues

Tony Dungy hoisted the Super Bowl trophy just three days ago, but already teams with job openings are coming after some of his assistant coaches -- including the Vikings, who are scheduled to interview assistant Leslie Frazier for their defensive coordinator opening today.

A decade ago, the Vikings had a chance to keep Tony Dungy as their head coach. Unfortunately, it would have meant firing Dennis Green, which would have been a sticky situation given that the Vikings had been regular playoff qualifiers.

A decade later, the Vikings might have the next best thing. Colts defensive backs coach Leslie Frazier – well versed in Dungy’s Cover-2 defense – is scheduled to visit the Vikings' team headquarters to interview for the open defensive coordinator position that has remained vacant since the Steelers signed away Mike Tomlin last month.

Frazier worked with Brad Childress on the Eagles staff from 1999-2002 and ascended to defensive coordinator with the Bengals in 2003-04. He spent the last two years with Dungy in Indianapolis.

Frazier spent six years in the NFL with the Bears and was part of Chicago’s only Super Bowl winner in the 1985 season.

Defensive line coach Karl Dunbar and linebackers coach Fred Pagac remain the top in-house candidates, while an interest has been shown in Colts assistant Alan Williams and Bears assistant coaches Bob Babich and Steve Wilks. Both the Colts and Bears run a similar Tampa-2 defense.

WEDNESDAY NOTES
* The denials of Vikings defensive coordinator interest has widened. Last week, Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove denied that the Vikings have expressed an interest in bringing him in for interviews. Tuesday, Michigan DC Ron English added his name to the list, saying the Vikings haven’t had any contact with him and, if they did, he wouldn’t leave the university.
* The rumors in Philadelphia have the Vikings as a frontrunner to sign free agent quarterback Jeff Garcia. The rumor mill has the Vikings willing to pay Garcia $4 million for one season, which would make sense seeing that even the Vikings brass didn’t believe when he was drafted that Tarvaris Jackson would be ready to take over as the starter for at least a couple of seasons. Childress claimed at his year-end press conference that the Vikings wouldn’t look at starting quarterbacks in the offseason, rather head into the season with Jackson and Brooks Bollinger as their top two QB options.
* The Vikings are mailing out season ticket packages this week to their current ticket holders. After seeing price increases each of the last nine years, some of the ticket prices are expected to remain the same this season.