When Tony Dungy became the Vikings defensive coordinator in 1992, he'd visit me on Friday afternoons during the season in the tiny cinderblock press room right off the Vikings locker room, and we'd chat for a half-hour about the coming game and the state of the league.
Dungy's players revered him. One Friday I asked, "How do you command the respect of professional athletes without raising your voice?"
Dungy, in his soft voice, looked me in the eye and said, "I just tell them that if they don't do what I want, I'll cut them."
It would be simplistic to say that Leslie Frazier, another soft-spoken defensive coordinator turned head coach, is another Dungy. Even though Frazier worked for Dungy in Indianapolis, Frazier often cites his time playing for Mike Ditka and working for Andy Reid as major influences on his career and coaching style.
Dungy and Frazier do have this much in common: They don't have to yell to grab their players' attention.
Frazier already has swung a velvet hammer at several players. He cut tackle Bryant McKinnie when he showed up fat for the start of training camp. He deactivated receiver Bernard Berrian last weekend for missing team meetings. He benched cornerback Cedric Griffin for a series over an undisclosed violation.
He punished them, but he did not bash them publicly.
"What we had to do this past weekend, when I sit down and talk to both of our players that are involved, is to explain that this is the right thing to do for the team," Frazier told me this week. "It's not something I wanted to do. It's not something I like to do. But in the seat that I'm in, you've got to make that decision based on what's best for the team."
