Mariucci has faith in Favre's ability

Brett Favre walked off at the end of practice Wednesday and the first thing he did on the sidelines was approach Steve Mariucci, an old friend who coached the new Vikings quarterback for four years while they were with the Green Bay Packers.

The conversation between Mariucci, who had watched Favre for the whole practice, and the quarterback continued for more than 30 minutes. Mariucci later said he came away with the opinion that the future Hall of Famer still can play with the best.

"I was there when he was a baby, his first four years [in Green Bay]. I am watching him throw today in practice, and he looks to me like he's making all the same kind of throws," said Mariucci, the former 49ers and Lions head coach who is now with the NFL Network.

"It looks like his arm is sharp, fresh and healthy," said Mariucci, an outstanding football coach, first in college at California and then with the pros. "I don't know if he's feeling any pain or not, but he looks sharp. It's interesting to be able to jump right off the bus and jump right in the huddle and run this offense. It's all familiar to him."

So he looks as good as ever?

"Let's watch him throw in pads. Right now in shorts he looks good to me. It's a good start," Mariucci said.

So you think he can be the difference in how the Vikings do?

Mariucci believes fans will follow Favre's progress nationwide.

"It's going to be a lot of fun. I think a lot of football fans around the country, whether you are a Packer fan or Viking fan, will be interested to watch the [soon-to-be] 40-year-old play," Mariucci said.

Any advice for him?

"Have fun. He doesn't have any trouble doing that," he said. "He loves playing football. Everybody knows that. He loves the game, he loves to compete."

Why do you think he came back?

What other advice did you give him?

"I just said let it rip, and have fun," said Mariucci. "He's not going to start second- guessing any decision. He has made a commitment to this organization, and is going to go for it. I think we all know that with him, they have a pretty good chance to do some damage in this NFL chase."

Are you going to coach again?

"I don't know. I'm having a lot of fun with the NFL Network," he said.

Favre's contract The only way that Favre's contract would change would be if he was released before the regular season opened. Then he would get only $6 million guaranteed instead of $12 million if he's on the roster at the start of the season. The contract also includes $13 million for next year, but that is not guaranteed. Favre said that when he drove into Winter Park with his wife, Deanna, and coach Brad Childress on Tuesday, he couldn't believe the number of people standing across the street from Winter Park.

Jottings Gophers quarterback Adam Weber is among 38 signal-callers nationwide on the Manning Watch List. The award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning, and is the only quarterback award that considers performances in bowl games.

Gophers football coach Tim Brewster, who said he believes Eric Small will play in the NFL, described the defensive tackle like this: "Eric is a self-made man, and he is a tough, hard-nosed, physical guy who is committed to doing things right. He's 307 pounds. He's one of our strongest football players. [Defensive line coach] Tim Cross has done a great job of teaching him how to use his hands. He's not absorbing blocks like he was when he first got going. But you've got to understand that he had never played the position prior to coming here."

The starting quarterback for Syracuse, whom the Gophers play in their season opener Sept. 5 on the road, will be former Duke basketball star Greg Paulus, who transferred to Syracuse to play football.

Beau Allen of Minnetonka, the highly ranked defensive tackle, says he is considering four schools: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Stanford. Last fall, Allen was credited with 47 tackles, 11 for loss and three sacks. He is 6-3 and weighs 290. ... ESPN reports that Seantrel Henderson, the Cretin-Derham Hall offensive tackle who is rated by many as the top 2010 recruit in the country, will make official visits to Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida, USC and Notre Dame. Minnesota is still on his list, but his father points out he's been to the campus dozens of times.

The word is that the Gophers will have one of the best field-goal kickers in the country next year in Kip Smith of Broomfield (Colo.) Legacy, who is ranked second in the country by kicking expert Chris Sailer and third by Rivals.com. He has kicked a field goal of 65 yards.

The proposed cost of the new Hazeltine National clubhouse is $14 million. But that figure hasn't been approved by the club's board of directors at this point.

Troy Bell, the former Holy Angels star and a No. 1 draft choice of the Boston Celtics (then traded to the Grizzlies), played on Vanoli Soresina in Italy, helping it win the Lega2 (second division) title, averaging 20.6 points a game. He is working on graduating from the University of Minnesota. ... Ex-Gopher Dan Coleman has signed to play basketball in France next season.