Frazier feels positive about new position

Leslie Frazier, coming up on his second game Sunday as interim head coach of the Vikings, said "the circumstances that I got the job under were a little bit different, but I feel like I'm beginning to settle into the position.

"It's been a whirlwind week, there's been so much going on since the time I was named interim coach. I'm just happy to see our guys go out and get that first win [vs. Washington last Sunday], but it's been a busy, busy time. Now we're in the second week, and we're looking forward to this Buffalo Bills game."

Frazier said he doesn't feel any more pressure than he did when he was defensive coordinator.

"I'm secure in who I am as a person and what I can do, so no, I don't feel any pressure," he said. "It's been a big difference, but it's been a good difference, just being in charge of everything and having the final say. I've gotten a lot of positive support from different people, a lot of words of encouragement from people around the league [and] people here in Minnesota, so that's helped me a lot. I've had a lot of positive feedback.

"It's a lot of hard work now, a lot of hard work to get things turned around and get things in a direction that we want them to go but that's part of it. Hard work is part of it."

Frazier has been a candidate for seven other NFL head coaching jobs. As it turns out, he might have been fortunate he didn't get any of them, because I'm convinced he ultimately will replace Brad Childress.

"That would be pretty good. Minnesota is a good place," Frazier said. "This job is great, better than some of those other jobs. I have no complaints, no complaints."

"All the vibes I get have been positive, and hopefully that will remain the case," he said. "It helps when you're 1-0, that's positive, but hopefully that will continue."

Frazier said he is very much involved in the offense now after concentrating on the defense before.

"I get together with our offensive coaches and we talk strategy, we talk about what's best for our football team, but I split my time between the offense, the defense and the special teams," he said.

He said his relationship with quarterback Brett Favre is very positive. There were a lot of rumors that Childress and the veteran quarterback didn't get along well.

"We have a good relationship, and we had a good relationship prior to my being named to this position, and hopefully we'll maintain that," Frazier said. "He'll still have to play within the scheme and do the things that are necessary to help us to win, and that's what he wants to do. He wants to win."

Coaching delay hurts Before Tim Brewster was named Gophers football coach in 2007, athletic director Joel Maturi told me more than once that the Gophers job is not that attractive to successful coaches, and it was difficult to find the right man for the job.

Well, it's been several weeks since Brewster was fired Oct. 17. Maturi said one reason he fired Brewster when he did was because it gave him more time to hire a coach than when he fired Glen Mason after the 2006 Insight Bowl.

Starting Sunday, the period for coaches to contact recruits began. I'm sure Maturi and those involved in naming the new coach would have wanted one in place by then, to both try and keep the players who have committed and to attract new recruits. For this team to win next year, they also will need to pick up a number of junior college players to fill weak positions.

It's obvious Maturi is having a hard time finding the right guy for the job.

One thing that hurt the process before Brewster was hired is how highly Mason was rated by his fellow coaches. The word I got at the time from several possible candidates was that if Mason couldn't win consistently at Minnesota, nobody else will either.

Here's a suggestion: Appoint Lou Holtz director of football and let him operate with the present staff for a year or two or make the changes he wants. From what I hear, Holtz would be interested in the job.

Jottings • Kevin Sumlin, the University of Houston football coach and former Gophers assistant whose name has been speculated on as a candidate for the Gophers job, is reported to be among the top candidates at Colorado and Miami (Fla).

• The Bills, the Vikings' opponent on Sunday, are 2-9 but each of the past four Bills losses have come by three points. Their 19-16 loss to the Steelers last week was their third loss in overtime.

Buffalo had a chance to upset the Steelers, but wide receiver Steve Johnson dropped what would have been a touchdown pass in the end zone in overtime.

• The Vikings-Bills game was the last home game to sell out. The remaining games, against the Bears and Giants, already were sold out.

• Seantrel Henderson, the former Cretin-Derham Hall football star who wound up starting for Miami as a freshman, suffered a sprained left Achilles' tendon in a 23-20 overtime loss to South Florida last Saturday but is expected to play in the Hurricanes' upcoming bowl game.

The 6-8, 350-pound Henderson, who was the nation's No. 1 recruit by many scouting services this past season, started at right tackle but is expected to move to left tackle next season. He was one of only eight true freshman in the country to start at offensive tackle by mid-October this season.

• To date, Gophers quarterback Adam Weber hasn't received any invitations to play in any postseason all-star football games. Weber plans to take a couple of weeks off, then start training in the hope of being selected in the 2011 NFL draft.

• Dave Skrien, a former Gophers fullback and linebacker who went on to be a head coach in the CFL with the BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders, passed away Tuesday in Mound. He was 81.