There is a certain insecurity that comes from living in flyover country.
Jim Harbaugh: The rare big name who wanted us and was rejected
Usually when we feel wanted here in Minnesota, we dive in no matter what.
February 7, 2022 at 6:54PM
It's OK. We can admit it.
Like small talk about the weather and casual passive-aggressiveness, wanting to be liked comes with the territorial border of Minnesota. This plays out in a variety of ways, including claiming as "one of us" anyone who might have lived in Minnesota for more than five minutes.
In sports, this insecurity often plays out as an excitement/fear cycle. As soon as something good happens, like a winning streak or the emergence of a star player or coach, we start to worry about what will go wrong.
It also plays out like this: Any big-name player or coach who says they want to sign on with a Minnesota team is immediately elevated in stature.
They like us! They really do! They could be anywhere, but they choose Minnesota.
And usually when a big fish wants us, the powers who run our teams do everything they can to reel them in.
That preamble leads to an interesting counterexample, which Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast.
By all accounts, as detailed over the weekend by Star Tribune Vikings beat writer Ben Goessling, Jim Harbaugh wanted to coach the Vikings.
And the Vikings, after going through the process of interviewing Harbaugh and other less-accomplished candidates said ... nah, we're going with someone else.
Kevin O'Connell, a 36-year-old with no head coaching experience, got the nod over the veteran with a stacked resume.
This isn't shocking when you look at what the Vikings wanted in a coach, nor should we assume this was a bad decision. O'Connell has plenty to prove, but he comes from a good background and should reset the culture in Minnesota in a way Harbaugh would not have.
But it does run counter to the way things have tended to work. Tubby Smith wants to come to Minnesota? Roll out the red carpet. Tom Thibodeau and Bruce Boudreau are going to lead championship runs? Sign us up. Kirk Cousins, the best QB on the market, picked Minnesota? Let's go!
And ... yeah, all of those decisions have added up to a collective "meh."
Maybe Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's greatest contribution to the Vikings will prove to be this: Not making decisions like a Minnesotan.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
