Jim Souhan: Frazier takes a page from Dungy's book on defense

Most defensive touchdowns look like luck. A lineman raises his hands, and a football sticks in them. A cornerback sprints to make a tackle, the ball pops into his arms, and a path opens to the end zone as if traffic cops had cleared the way with orange cones.

When Tony Dungy became the Vikings defensive coordinator in 1992, he rejuvenated a mediocre defense and his players scored eight touchdowns, many of those resulting from plays that looked fortuitous.

We long ago learned that those plays are, instead, the residue of design. Dungy's defenses excelled at making big plays, and his protegés have made his "Tampa-2" alignment the most popular defense in the NFL.

Sunday at the Metrodome, Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, the latest in a long line of Dungy disciples holding key coaching positions, celebrated his debut with an homage to his old boss. The Vikings beat Atlanta 24-3, with two defensive touchdowns and six sacks, as Frazier threw creative blitzes and coverages at Falcons quarterback Joey Harrington.

In the first quarter, defensive tackle Kevin Williams reached to bat a pass, found it velcroed to his hands and scored easily on a 54-yard return. In the fourth quarter, cornerback Antoine Winfield grabbed a deflection and scored.

Either touchdown would have provided enough points for a victory, because the Vikings came within a 45-yard fourth-quarter field goal of their first shutout since -- you guessed it -- Dungy's defense stifled Detroit in 1993.

Late Sunday afternoon, Frazier was heading for the exit when asked if his approach could be compared to Dungy's. "Well, he and I just talked yesterday about that," Frazier said, smiling at the memory.

Dungy wanted his players to think offensively. Once a fumble hit the ground or an errant pass headed toward a defender, Dungy wanted the rest of the defense to function like a punt return unit and clear the way to the end zone.

Frazier, a cornerback on the great Chicago defense of '85, heard Dungy preach that kind of aggressiveness last year, when Frazier coached the Colts defensive backs and served as Dungy's special assistant.

"My time in Indy really helped me to understand that," Frazier said of Dungy's approach. "If you ask our guys, we're always talking about scoring on turnovers in practice, and it's good to see it carry over into the game. It's a response, a reaction, from our players, and it comes from the way we practice. We talk about it all the time, and the guys are buying into it."

As it is with Dungy, Frazier's soft-spoken nature belies his aggressiveness. "Coach is so laid-back," Winfield said. "I love his approach. He has a lot of confidence in us. He gives us the game plan and says, 'Run with it.' "

Winfield nodded and said, "I can play for him. Yes, sir."

Dungy has won a Super Bowl and developed four current head coaches -- Kansas City's Herm Edwards, Detroit's Rod Marinelli, Chicago's Lovie Smith and Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin. Tomlin, Frazier's predecessor with the Vikings, won his debut Sunday.

One of Dungy's most gifted protegés is former Vikings linebacker coach Monte Kiffin, whom he hired to run his defense in Tampa. Together they developed the famous "Tampa-2" alignment.

Sunday, Frazier broke from Tampa-2 convention to blitz and sometimes bring one safety closer to the line of scrimmage. The result: two interception returns for TDs and six sacks.

Beating Joey Harrington hardly makes a career, but it already looks as if Frazier could become the next sturdy branch of the Dungy coaching tree.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on AM-1500 KSTP. • jsouhan@startribune.com