MANKATO, Minn. – As he saunters through the Vikings’ training camp practices, taking stock of how his team looks blocking and running and throwing and catching, Leslie Frazier has his eyes out for something deeper.
The head coach watches the interactions between older and younger players, looking for clues about how the veteran dispenses advice and how it’s received. Is it met with an affirming nod, or is there a confused look, a turn in the other direction, some body language that will tell Frazier the message didn’t land as the veteran hoped?
“You know if some guy is talking to a teammate, and that teammate is walking away, not respecting him, that guy might not have the leadership qualities you’re looking for,” Frazier said. “But if people will listen, if you have the ability to influence – and that’s what leaders are – that’s probably a guy you want on that committee.”
“That committee” is the group of a dozen or so veterans Frazier meets with once a week during the season, to gauge the mood of the team and to chart his next rhetorical steps. He used the Vikings’ leadership group to great effect last year, churning an air of self-belief through the group that permeated the team’s locker room as the Vikings won their last four games to claim the NFC’s final playoff spot.
But the committee will have a different look this year. Cornerback Antoine Winfield, probably the Vikings player whom teammates respected most, is gone to Seattle. So is Percy Harvin, the receiver who, for all of his foibles, was on Frazier’s committee last year because of his competitiveness and stature on the team. And as Frazier tries to will the Vikings forward from a 10-6 season, he’s also on the lookout for players who might make good lieutenants.
“The dynamics will change because we have had some changes on our roster,” Frazier said. “So you kind of have to observe and see how guys handle themselves in certain situations. We will need some other guys to step up and be a part of the ones who can talk to me about our team and what we are trying to get accomplished.”
Frazier said he has been compiling a list of candidates since the Vikings started organized team activities in May. He usually aims to have about a dozen players in the group, from a cross-section of positions, and the coach had no shortage of names who could join the leadership group when he was asked about it last week.
He mentioned asking for more out of players who have been on the committee in the past, like defensive end Brian Robison and offensive linemen Charlie Johnson and John Sullivan. But he also said tackle Phil Loadholt could have more influence, as could third-year tight end Kyle Rudolph. The Vikings paid receiver Greg Jennings as handsomely as they did because they liked his willingness to mentor younger players, and Frazier said Jennings could move into more of an official leadership role as players get to know him.
But the first name Frazier mentioned was safety Jamarca Sanford, the former seventh-round pick who has emerged as a starter the past two seasons and was rewarded with a two-year, $5 million contract in March. The 27-year-old Sanford is entering his fifth season, tying him with Chris Cook for the most experience in the Vikings’ secondary.
It’s hard not to hear Sanford, whether he’s on the practice field or singing in the showers behind the Vikings’ locker room. But with more experience, he is gaining a platform for his effervescent personality.
“Coach Frazier’s not going to put that on you. He just wants that to be a part of you,” Sanford said. “That always has been a part of me, vocally, and with Antoine gone, there are some big shoes to fill. I’m not trying to fill his shoes, but I’m just trying to be myself. If that’s being a leader, that’s what it is. I’m just trying to be more vocal. I am the oldest guy back there now. I’ve got to step up.”
Frazier will be watching Sanford, as he’ll be doing with the rest of the roster, trying to glean insight about whom he can pull into his inner circle. If there aren’t a dozen players who have shown they can handle the job, Frazier said, he’ll just have a smaller group. In the coach’s economy, influence is worth more than a title, and the latter won’t be awarded without the former.
With a shift in the Vikings’ roster, though, there are opportunities for players who want to lead.
“Our young guys are going to have to step up and assume a bigger leadership role than maybe they would have assumed at this point in their career,” linebacker Chad Greenway said. “So it’ll be a group effort. But at the same point, your leaders who have been around need to step up, and we’ll certainly be capable of doing that.”