EAGAN, Minn. -- New Minnesota Vikings general manager Nolan Teasley spent part of Wednesday listening to reporters pepper co-owner Mark Wilf with questions about the team's front office structure. It might have seemed odd or even disruptive on a day the organization meant as a celebration, but it was important for anyone who knows the Vikings' recent and even not-so-recent history.
As the team sought to portray collaborative leadership moving forward between Teasley, coach Kevin O'Connell and executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, it was necessary to ask: Who is in charge?
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"Nolan is," Wilf said. "He's the general manager of the organization. He has final say on the roster, of the 53 [players], but in the end, he's going to lean heavily... on our head coach, obviously, and people like Rob Brzezinski in the building that have deep experience and skill sets that are complementary.
"So I think we have it all put together in a great way, and I'm confident that this is a great move for the organization, a great move for the Minnesota Vikings."
Wilf went on to say that both Teasley and O'Connell will report directly to ownership. Brzezinski, the team's longtime contract negotiator and salary cap analyst who served as interim general manager for four months this spring, will report to Teasley.
"That's the structure," Wilf said. "That's the way it is. [But] if it comes to structure, we've got a problem. The end result is making sure leaders collaborate, work together."
New Vikings GM Nolan Teasley, left, and co-owner Mark Wilf at Teasley's introductory news conference on Wednesday. AP Photo/Abbie Parr Wilf's answer might have been the clearest explanation of his leadership expectations in 21 years of ownership: multiple leaders with one holding the tiebreaking card.
Functionally, what the Vikings now have is similar to what Mark and his brother Zygi have tried to implement through their tenure. Inspired largely by their own family-run real estate business, they have always emphasized collaboration. It always sounds good in theory -- multiple experts in their fields pushing and pulling until they get the right answer -- but from a practical sense it has favored the most dominant personality.