Hang down your head Fran Foley

Wow, that didn't take long. Amid much fanfare, the perpetually amusing Minnesota Vikings are apparently in the process of buying out their head football guy, Fran Foley, who was brought in with much fanfare from San Diego earlier this year. Since his arrival in Winter Park, we have discovered that:

1. He likes to embellish his resume. He claimed to have a number of lofty football positions in his formative years of coaching, somehow turning "graduate assistant" into "assistant coach" at a number of colleges. While that didn't sink George O'Leary here, he had a better pedigree than Foley, at least what could be independently confirmed.
2. He's apparently high handed and has angered the staff at Winter Park with his ways.
3. He's quite fond of argyle sweaters.
4. He's not necessarily a draft genius, based on some of his trades.

So now he has to go, and the Vikings need to start over. They may want to give the job to Scott Studwell, who has served the Vikings organization well for nearly 30 years now, as a stout linebacker, scout and executive. But they will need to do something.

The NFL North Division is hardly a festival of greatness these days - my beloved Packers are probably at least a few years away from contending again, Brett Favre notwithstanding. The Lions have pretty much defined mediocrity for nearly 50 seasons. And the Bears are a mirage - while they have some undeniable talent on defense, they can be beaten. But the Vikings look increasingly unlikely to take advantage of the situation. Brad Johnson is decrepit and Mike McMahon wasn't good enough to hold the QB job in Detroit, so it's difficult to imagine he'll do better wearing purple.