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(Leslie) Frazier is on fast track since firing


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[quote][size=5][b]Frazier is on fast track since firing[/b][/size]
[size=3][b]Vikes promote ex-Bengals aide[/b][/size]
BY MARK CURNUTTE | MCURNUTTE@ENQUIRER.COM

Leslie Frazier, whose first stint as an NFL coordinator ended with his firing in Cincinnati, has joined the elite of league assistant coaches.

This past week, after Frazier's first season as Minnesota's defensive coordinator, the Vikings added the title of assistant head coach to his job description. His contract also was extended through the 2009 season as head coach Brad Childress' right-hand man.

Frazier said the new title "kind of makes things official." He spent much of the past season - Frazier replaced Mike Tomlin, who left to become Pittsburgh's head coach - advising Childress on "everything ... from top to bottom, on our roster."

Frazier was a finalist for two head coaching jobs this offseason, Miami and Atlanta.

Minnesota finished with the 20th overall rank defensively under Frazier's direction in 2007. The Vikings were first against the run and last against the pass, which is one of the reasons Frazier lured former Bengals safety Madieu Williams to the Twin Cities as an unrestricted free agent.

The Bengals finished 27th in overall defense in 2007, and Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis fired his second defensive coordinator - Chuck Bresnahan - in five years on the job. Lewis fired Frazier after the 2004 season.

[b]TRACKING: [/b]Keeping up with the travels of Bengals coaches and scouts during the pro-day workout season on college campuses is next to impossible.

But Lewis' third Bengals defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, hired in January to replace Bresnahan, was at the University of Florida pro day Tuesday. The Gators' top defensive prospect is end Derrick Harvey, an early-entry junior who had 8.5 sacks last year and started all 13 games.

The Bengals were at the Boston College pro day Tuesday. Bob Surace, assistant offensive line coach, was there. Boston College's Gosder Cherilus is a projected first- or second-round offensive tackle and figures to be a solid pro right tackle.

[b]STIRRED:[/b] Kansas City's Herm Edwards was the only head coach at the Boston College pro day. And he spent time talking with Matt Ryan - the draft's top-rated quarterback - on the turf, according to The Kansas City Star.

Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and general manager Carl Peterson were there, too. The Chiefs have the fifth overall pick.

"It just means we're looking at everybody," Edwards told the Star. "I'm going to LSU next week. They've got a defensive tackle down there, some wide receivers, some defensive backs. I went to Cal last week. They've got seven guys there. I was on the news there, too. I was the only head coach there."

The Chiefs are shaky at quarterback. They are hopeful but not sure that Brodie Croyle will develop into a starter.

PALS: Saints running back Reggie Bush, who missed some time last season because of a knee problem, has become fast friends with Hornets guard Chris Paul and was at New Orleans Arena the other night watching his buddy play.

Paul and Bush live near each other in downtown New Orleans, and Bush told The Times-Picayune that he has taken inspiration and a challenge from Paul.

"Now I've got to come out and have an equal or better year," Bush said. "I've got to get the crowd chanting M-V-P."

Bush endured his first losing season on any level of football last year, missed four games and was unprepared to be the featured back after teammate Deuce McAllister's injury.

"I've had plenty of time to reflect," said Bush, who turned 23 earlier this month. "I missed the last four games. That really hurt me because I never really had to miss any games before. I had a lot of time to think and just go through what approach I want to take this year and how I want to go about this year and getting to that elite level of athletes."

[b]SPRING WORKOUTS: [/b]The Redskins gathered for the first time en masse this past Monday for the opening of their spring conditioning program.

Head coach Joe Gibbs has retired and was replaced by Jim Zorn. And players have had time to further cope with the shooting death of safety Sean Taylor, whose loss galvanized them as a team and drove them to an improbable playoff berth.

[b]CLOSE CALL:[/b] Rams linebacker Chris Draft lives on the 22nd floor of a high-rise in downtown Atlanta near the CNN Center. From his condo, he saw the tornado that struck March 14, he told The St. Louis Post Dispatch.

"I was on my balcony, and the tornado was right there," said Draft, whose building was not damaged. "I could see all the debris swirling around in it."

[i]Written, in part, from notes provided by other NFL beat writers[/i][/quote]



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