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Article: Which head coach in Minnesota Vikings history has been your favorite? Your least favorite? Why?

R P.
Fargo, ND     11/23/2009 8:00 AM

Bud Grant is the obvious no brainer choice here, he is also my choice. But I have to remind readers that Bud coached during a time when sports fanity was not as virulent and intense as it is now. Bud has now gained stature as the beloved old time warrior from those 'wonderful days ' past , kinda like the uncle in your family that fought in Korea or served in WW11 and today is beyond criticism . Today's fans are none too tolerant of anything and even the 'great coaches ' today are picked apart . Bud you all know took his teams to the Super Bowl 4 times and 'failed ' miserably each time. Would today's fan find that acceptable? Look at how Gardenhire is pilloried for finishing first in his division 6 out of the last 8 years , because the fans still arn't satisfied and in fact many dwell on his failure to take the team further. Heck even Tom Kelly gets criticiized even though he got the grand prize TWICE. ( his teams were so mediocre the other years!) Denny Green , Burns , Childress etc today are all subject to the 24/7 sports talk , high tech instant slow mo replay of every decision that is second guessed ad naseum by the sports journalism industry. Good ole Bud never would have emerged with such a glossy image had he been coaching today. Look at how Belicek is ripped today and how many Super bowls rings does he have? And remember great players can make a good coach look pretty great! Wern't all you guys just ripping Chilly after his first 2 years and now he gets Adrian , Jared , Percy , those behemoths on the line , etc and suddenly he is SO much better! The only way to judge the greatness of a coach or anyone is if they all had the same team to manage and how each one handled the same talent . That is impossible , so we are left to judge with our prejudices and clouded memories. OK so Bud is # ! , but really there is no real verdict.