The coaching carousel has finally come to a stop with head coach Leslie Frazier‘s final significant piece of his staffing puzzle in place with the hiring of James Saxon to coach the running backs.
Saxon was taken in the sixth round of the 1988 draft out of San Jose State by the Kansas City Chiefs, for whom he played the first four of his eight seasons in the NFL. He then played three years for the Dolphins and his final year as a player for the Eagles.
During those eight years, Saxon carried the ball 145 times for 533 yards for a 3.7 yard average. He fumbled once and scored five touchdowns. He also had 69 receptions for 515 yards for a 7.5 yard average.
Saxon was an assistant coach for the Chiefs from 2001 to 2007 and for the past three seasons, served as the running backs coach for the Miami Dolphins. Eight of his layers have made the Pro Bowl during his ten year coaching career, including Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Tony Richardson and Ronnie Brown.
He must be psyched to be able to work with Adrian Peterson…and vice versa.
GO STEELERS!
Time to root for former Vikings defensive coordinator, one- and soon to be two-time Super Bowl champion head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin.
And for former Vikings third-down back extraordinaire, Mewelde Moore.
And for former Minnesota Gopher Matt Spaeth.
TOP FIVE OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
Ben Leber is likely gone via free agency and Chad Greenway may very well take the money and run, so the Vikings could find themselves suddenly bereft of linebackers. The top five outside linebackers in the draft are Von Miller, Akeem Ayers, Bruce Carter, Justin Houston, Mark Herzlich and Dontay Moch. [WATCH HIGHLIGHTS of the Top 5 Outside Linebackers In the 2011 NFL Draft.]