Vikings Message Board.Com

Texas Vike wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 7:51 am I'll play devil's advocate on this point:

I don't think there is anyone on this board who has enough access to information to objectively judge GM candidates. This is especially true of our two finalists, who have never held the role of GM. The best one can do is extrapolate from that team's success in the draft, in managing FA, and other personnel moves, but we can't know for sure what this candidate's role was in any of those decisions or if it was even theirs.

Everything I've read about KAM sounds very positive. His background is not conventional. I like that, honestly. He's well educated, has demonstrated success in very competitive sectors, and appears to excel at analytics while also being exceptional concerning social intelligence. That's a rare combo that has me interested.

Poles would have been the safer choice, so I get the disappointment, but safe choices have defined the MN Vikings for the past decade. I'm excited to see what Kwesi can do with this franchise.

But what fun is that?!

This wouldn't be a proper sports message board if we didn't immediately say how bad the GM hire was.

And for good measure, people will do the same thing when we hire a head coach. I'll just get it out of the way, "Our new coach sucks! We would have been way better off with *insert name here*"

Vikings signed Mr. Kwesi to a 4 year 12 million contract, that is not a bad contract honestly

Apparently it is official now as it is on NFL and everywhere else.

Yeah it's official. Athletic has reported it too. Hope he's a good hire. Wasn't my first choice, I don't run an NFL team though so hey. Heh.

Lets go get a good hc candidate now. Not an old retread DC. (Morris I wouldn't call a retread DC fwiw). If we go DC route please hire a proven OC and stay out of the way.

vikeinmontana wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:35 am

Texas Vike wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 7:51 am I'll play devil's advocate on this point:

I don't think there is anyone on this board who has enough access to information to objectively judge GM candidates. This is especially true of our two finalists, who have never held the role of GM. The best one can do is extrapolate from that team's success in the draft, in managing FA, and other personnel moves, but we can't know for sure what this candidate's role was in any of those decisions or if it was even theirs.

Everything I've read about KAM sounds very positive. His background is not conventional. I like that, honestly. He's well educated, has demonstrated success in very competitive sectors, and appears to excel at analytics while also being exceptional concerning social intelligence. That's a rare combo that has me interested.

Poles would have been the safer choice, so I get the disappointment, but safe choices have defined the MN Vikings for the past decade. I'm excited to see what Kwesi can do with this franchise.

But what fun is that?!

This wouldn't be a proper sports message board if we didn't immediately say how bad the GM hire was.

And for good measure, people will do the same thing when we hire a head coach. I'll just get it out of the way, "Our new coach sucks! We would have been way better off with *insert name here*"

I think it’s the fact that our clear #1 choice got pulled by a division rival, just speaks to the mediocrity and lack of decision making/pursuit this franchise is known for. It’s speaks to your franchise when you cant pull or entice the person you want from everyone else, it’s clear the Vikings don’t have that ability that tells me something about this franchise.

Here's an article regarding the hire.

Nick Shook
Around the NFL
What was expected is now reality in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Vikings have finalized a deal with Browns executive Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to make him their next general manager, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported. Adofo-Mensah is signing for four years and $12 million, per NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe and Ian Rapoport.

Adofo-Mensah was one of two finalists for the opening, with Chiefs executive Ryan Poles being the other. When Poles took the GM job in Chicago, that essentially made the Vikings' decision for them.

Adofo-Mensah comes to Minnesota from Cleveland, where he's spent the last two seasons as the Browns' vice president of football operations, working under wunderkind GM Andrew Berry as part of an operation that saw the Browns to an 11-5 finish and their first playoff victory since the 1994 season in 2020. The story wasn't quite as sweet in 2021, as Cleveland finished a disappointing 8-9 while battling key injuries at multiple positions and struggling to ever get on track offensively.

Like the Harvard-educated Berry, Adofo-Mensah is also an Ivy League product, graduating from Princeton before beginning a career that started in San Francisco. Adofo-Mensah started as the 49ers' manager of football research before being promoted to director, and eventually moved east to Cleveland to join Berry's staff once the GM returned to the Browns following a one-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Adofo-Mensah was one of seven initial candidates for the opening, with Poles (Chiefs), Brandon Brown (Eagles), Glenn Cook (Browns), Catherine Raiche (Eagles), John Spytek (Buccaneers) and Eliot Wolf (Patriots) rounding out the group. He'll take over the position manned by Rick Spielman from 2012-2021.

First up on the list of duties for Adofo-Mensah: Find a new head coach to replace Mike Zimmer, who was fired after eight seasons with the Vikings.

allday1991 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:19 am

vikeinmontana wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:35 am

But what fun is that?!

This wouldn't be a proper sports message board if we didn't immediately say how bad the GM hire was.

And for good measure, people will do the same thing when we hire a head coach. I'll just get it out of the way, "Our new coach sucks! We would have been way better off with *insert name here*"

I think it’s the fact that our clear #1 choice got pulled by a division rival, just speaks to the mediocrity and lack of decision making/pursuit this franchise is known for. It’s speaks to your franchise when you cant pull or entice the person you want from everyone else, it’s clear the Vikings don’t have that ability that tells me something about this franchise.

Clear #1 choice? Where do you see evidence of that? I've seen some tweets that say the opposite. It's impossible for us to know, probably, so, again, it's just speculation.

I liked both finalists and saw them as 1A and 1B. You know what the worst scenario would have been, IMO? Staying with Spielman. The Wilves are going for it. They are choosing to push the frontier and try a more experimental approach with a GM heavy into analytics, but not from a FB playing background. I figure this will either succeed or fail spectacularly. It won't be middle of the road BS that leads to mediocrity, which is what we've been putting up with since I became a fan in the 70s. They're rolling the dice... I like it!

Texas Vike wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:47 pm

allday1991 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:19 am

I think it’s the fact that our clear #1 choice got pulled by a division rival, just speaks to the mediocrity and lack of decision making/pursuit this franchise is known for. It’s speaks to your franchise when you cant pull or entice the person you want from everyone else, it’s clear the Vikings don’t have that ability that tells me something about this franchise.

Clear #1 choice? Where do you see evidence of that? I've seen some tweets that say the opposite. It's impossible for us to know, probably, so, again, it's just speculation.

I liked both finalists and saw them as 1A and 1B. You know what the worst scenario would have been, IMO? Staying with Spielman. The Wilves are going for it. They are choosing to push the frontier and try a more experimental approach with a GM heavy into analytics, but not from a FB playing background. I figure this will either succeed or fail spectacularly. It won't be middle of the road BS that leads to mediocrity, which is what we've been putting up with since I became a fan in the 70s. They're rolling the dice... I like it!

Far enough, he might not of been the clear number 1, however if your down to two guys and one backs out you didn’t make the decision, you got the left overs just my opinion.

allday1991 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:57 pm Far enough, he might not of been the clear number 1, however if your down to two guys and one backs out you didn’t make the decision, you got the left overs just my opinion.

The optics are funky due to the Bears hiring Poles. It looks like the snatched the top choice out from under us.

I work in a field that is highly competitive and I do a fair bit of hiring. We get hundreds of applicants with amazing credentials. From initial review of portfolios to actual hire includes about 200-250 hours of work, collectively, for the hiring committee. To say it is labor intensive would be a major understatement. Usually, any of our finalists would be a supremely exceptional choice. I trust that this is the case here too. Sometimes your second choice ends up being a better fit anyways. Let's give it time.

I am not sure about this hire as I don't know exactly what he did for the Browns as VP of football operations, but I believe that he was involved with the scouting department in Cleveland. hopefully he will be able to make the hard and fast moving decisions that are needed on draft day, or else we may all be clamoring to re hire Spielman.

Husker Vike wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 1:46 pm I am not sure about this hire as I don't know exactly what he did for the Browns as VP of football operations, but I believe that he was involved with the scouting department in Cleveland. hopefully he will be able to make the hard and fast moving decisions that are needed on draft day, or else we may all be clamoring to re hire Spielman.

I won't. I've had enough of the stockpiling of 7th rounders approach of "Slick Rick". It always struck me as an admission that he doesn't have faith in their scouting so we're just going to maximize the number of darts we have to throw at the board. We end up with tons of bodies at camp which we inevitably cut anyways (and then they go flourish for other teams: Carlson, Blasingame, etc.) but very little to show for it, talent-wise, after all these years. Our D is full of gaps with very little depth. To me, that speaks to how poorly Spielman's approach worked.

allday1991 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:57 pm

Texas Vike wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:47 pm

Clear #1 choice? Where do you see evidence of that? I've seen some tweets that say the opposite. It's impossible for us to know, probably, so, again, it's just speculation.

I liked both finalists and saw them as 1A and 1B. You know what the worst scenario would have been, IMO? Staying with Spielman. The Wilves are going for it. They are choosing to push the frontier and try a more experimental approach with a GM heavy into analytics, but not from a FB playing background. I figure this will either succeed or fail spectacularly. It won't be middle of the road BS that leads to mediocrity, which is what we've been putting up with since I became a fan in the 70s. They're rolling the dice... I like it!

Far enough, he might not of been the clear number 1, however if your down to two guys and one backs out you didn’t make the decision, you got the left overs just my opinion.

That’s the beauty of sports. As passionate as we are about our team, we have no idea what’s going on in the front office. There’s probably staff members in the front office who don’t know the ins and out of everything in the front office!

What you suggested is a possibility. Far from fact. What if the other guy didn’t interview as great as he wanted and had a feeling he should jump on the bears job because he didn’t believe he’d get the Vikes job? Another possibility, but I would never suggest it’s fact.

That’s why I always try and take a wait and see approach. Way to many unknowns for us casual fans to make a call about a guy before he’s worked one day yet.

Take a look at this interview of Kwesi shortly after he joined the Browns:

https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/br ... -passionat

I came away very impressed with the guy. He answers a lot of questions I am guessing he will probably get in his GM press conference, and some of those questioned here. I really liked the response to the question "On what experiences from the 49ers, who reached the Super Bowl, he believes he can help bring to the Browns".

Who knows if he is the right guy? Only time will tell. But I am optimistic after seeing this video interview.

Texas Vike wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 1:44 pm

allday1991 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 12:57 pm Far enough, he might not of been the clear number 1, however if your down to two guys and one backs out you didn’t make the decision, you got the left overs just my opinion.

The optics are funky due to the Bears hiring Poles. It looks like the snatched the top choice out from under us.

I work in a field that is highly competitive and I do a fair bit of hiring. We get hundreds of applicants with amazing credentials. From initial review of portfolios to actual hire includes about 200-250 hours of work, collectively, for the hiring committee. To say it is labor intensive would be a major understatement. Usually, any of our finalists would be a supremely exceptional choice. I trust that this is the case here too. Sometimes your second choice ends up being a better fit anyways. Let's give it time.

There can be all kinds of other factors too, as you well know.

My wife is CFO of a large company. She needed to hire a new Director of Finance, somebody who would certainly be in the running for CFO when my wife retires. She had so much pressure from a variety of sources, including the Chairman of the Board to hire his hand-picked candidate. When she went with someone else, it caused a rift between the Chairman and the CEO, who had told the Chair that it was inappropriate to try and influence the hire. It was a political mess.

The point here is that the presumptive “No. 1 candidate” in that case would’ve depended on whom you asked.

None of us knows who the No. 1 choice for GM was. Some on the committee may have wanted Poles. Others KAM. But I guarantee you, when asked, they’ll all say it was Mensah.

40for60 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:48 pm Take a look at this interview of Kwesi shortly after he joined the Browns:

https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/br ... -passionat

I came away very impressed with the guy. He answers a lot of questions I am guessing he will probably get in his GM press conference, and some of those questioned here. I really liked the response to the question "On what experiences from the 49ers, who reached the Super Bowl, he believes he can help bring to the Browns".

Who knows if he is the right guy? Only time will tell. But I am optimistic after seeing this video interview.

Thanks for posting this. KAM is very well-spoken and super intelligent. Shared vision--his answer to the question that you highlight--I can see how that aligns with what the Wilfs were saying when they announced firing Rick and Mike.

His answer at 12:30 is great too, BTW. 2nd edit: I LOVE his answer about 'analytics' at 12:30, rejecting the novelty of that concept, calling it 'evidence based' and that it's nothing new.