Takeaways from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's introductory press conference

The new GM spoke to reporters in depth about his path to Minnesota

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By Sam Ekstrom and Matthew Coller

EAGAN — The Minnesota Vikings introduced new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah at TCO Performance Center on Thursday morning. Here’s what we learned about his philosophies and his path to the top spot…

Matthew’s takeaways

Adofo-Mensah doesn’t want to be known as the ‘analytics guy’

Because of his background in Wall Street and his beginnings in football as a researcher, the Vikings’ new general manager carried the tag of being the “analytics candidate” throughout the GM search process. In front of the throng of writers and cameras inside the team’s practice facility, he brushed aside that label.

 “When John [Lynch] and Kyle [Shanahan] came to San Francisco, we had a meeting where everybody goes around the room and introduces themselves, and I took that opportunity to stand up and say 'I don't know what analytics is,' and I think I might've laid an expletive in there so I could be extra football guy,” Adofo-Mensah said. “For me, it's about being thoughtful and intentional. And I don't think that's a new thing, I think that word's become really about who's doing the work, not what is being done.”

Adofo-Mensah explained that his view is that numbers can “fill in the blind spots” of scouting and that scouting does the same for analytics. He and added that the information used to make decisions can come from all sorts of different sources.

“Sometimes that involves quantitative research, sometimes that involves just talking to people about experience, using their intuition,” Adofo-Mensah said. “It varies, but at the end of the day, the core thing is learning, trying to figure out why, and then using that 'why' to make better decisions with intent and just a detailed focus. So that's really what it means to me.”

Getting player feedback 

At the end of the season, Vikings players who were available for press conferences — Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks and Brian O’Neill — alluded to wanting their voice heard more from the team’s brass. From their comments it was clear that was not so much the case in the Spielman/Zimmer era. The team’s leadership council spoke with ownership before the Wilfs and their search team went looking for their new GM and expressed their frustration.

Adofo-Mensah said that one of his firsts tasks as the new leader of the front office is to communicate with the team’s core players and get their feedback on what needs to change.

“When you get to a culture, you first want to see what it is and see what people think and see where they want to grow… I'm going to go talk to the leadership council and see what they have to say,” Adofo-Mensah said. “I'm a consensus builder, I love information. So nothing they say is going to shock me or be anything negative. I want to take it into consideration. We have, again, general thoughts on what we want but hearing from players is not going to hurt that and I look forward to having that dialogue from them.”

It may be the case that Adofo-Mensah isn’t shocked by the things he hears but some of the conversations that he’s having with Vikings leaders may be dicey considering many of those players’ futures with the organization are in question. How Adofo-Mensah handles the opening months of his tenure as it pertains to the expensive veterans will tell us a lot about how the leadership of the team will be shaped. Will he want to retain veterans to build around them or bring in his own fresh blood?

Later in the day, Andrew Berry joined a Zoom call with the Twin Cities media. He talked about how quickly Adofo-Mensah will have to get the hang of the job and the challenges that come along with the laundry list of things to do.

“The first thing I kind of warned him about is like, when you first take the job, there’s not a ton of time to relax and kind of smell the roses or reflect, because he’s going immediately into a head coaching search,” Berry said. “There’s a little bit of a feeling probably… three or four weeks where you’re just drinking from a fire hose.”

Berry continued…

“You’re trying to put together a free agency process, a draft process, you’re evaluating the team, you’re getting to know people within the organization, you’re trying to establish a program and a culture, and oh by the way, you’re trying to hire a head coach and help that individual out with his or her staff. And I think probably the pacing at the front end can be tough, because they’re long days and you just realize how much you have to do. But just like everything, at some point, it slows down.”

Learning to evaluate players

In terms of Adofo-Mensah’s development as a football mind, he said that going from the San Francisco 49ers to the Cleveland Browns helped push him to understand the game at another level from his time with the 49ers. In Cleveland, he was required to scout players.

“In San Francisco, I was in those draft meetings, watching, listening to the coaches, but I wasn’t responsible for doing those things myself,” Adofo-Mensah said. “Now, I’m asked to be in those meetings. [Cleveland GM Andrew Berry] wouldn’t let me fall back on my skillset, right? Nope, you’re going to watch the players, write reports, doing all those things. What I love about that is you get to do it your way. He’s always like, hey, always listen to everybody else but take what they teach you and apply it the way someone who is like you would apply it. So I’ve come up with some great things, and, again, it’s probably my favorite part of my NFL experience and kind of learning something I didn’t know.”

Adofo-Mensah said that his philosophy has not just been shaped by previous people that he’s worked with in the NFL but the theories of legends as well. He explained why he had a picture of legendary 49ers coach Bill Walsh in his office in San Francisco.

“That phrase…’thoughtful and intentional,’ that’s kind of what I got from Bill Walsh,” Adofo-Mensah said. “I don’t think there’s been anybody in the history of this sport that was more thoughtful and intentional to him to the detail that he played in practice and what he was trying to get out of it.”

“There’s way to give your players an advantage week in and week out, year in and year out,” Adofo-Mensah continued. “There’s a way to be process driven and process oriented to kind of figure out how to evolve and that’s the type of thing we’re looking for and that’s the type of thing that coach Walsh instilled upon me.”

Family inspiration

Adofo-Mensah’s fiancé and mom were on hand at TCO Performance Center for his opening press conference. He talked at length about his parents’ influence, even when it comes to his approach as a general manager.

“Growing up it was always ‘you can do anything.’ Practices, it didn’t matter what it was, it was always ‘did you try your hardest? Did you practice? Did you prepare?’ and it was always process over results,” Adofo-Mensah said. “She was the first person who taught me that. She always had this phrase, ‘when something goes on in life, all I can do is work.’”

Adofo-Mensah also talked about his late father’s support and how he was thinking about him on a day in which he took a huge step forward professionally.

“One of the things he was best at was telling me how proud he was of me. I know he’d be very proud if he was here today. The last thing he said to me – it’s funny. We beat the Cowboys years ago, and you know how football season goes, your communication skills aren’t great… My dad left me a voicemail and it’s something that I listen to all the time. He said ‘I’m proud of you, your boys made a statement.’ And sometimes when I need a little extra, I play the voicemail because I think there are more statements to be made.”

Sam’s takeaways

Status of head coach search

The head coaching carousel is heating up now as positions across the league are beginning to get filled. Nathaniel Hackett, a Vikings interviewee, is headed to Denver. Matt Eberflus is headed to Chicago. Dan Quinn, who reportedly had a strong interview with the Vikings, is remaining with the Dallas Cowboys.

As the pool of Vikings candidates shrinks, the click may be ticking for Adofo-Mensah to expedite his head coaching search, which Mark Wilf said Adofo-Mensah is “already deeply involved” in.

With various reports connecting Cowboys OC Kellen Moore to the Dolphins job or potentially staying in Dallas, it seems like Rams QB coach Kevin O’Connell is the last remaining offensive-minded candidate that the Vikings have already interviewed. Four defensive-minded candidates also remain between Raheem Morris, Demeco Ryans, Todd Bowles and Jonathan Gannon.

If Adofo-Mensah has candidates he’d like to bring in outside the existing circle, he’ll want to act fast before the seven open positions start to fill.

“We’ve had some initial discussions,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We know what we want to find – we want leadership, we want somebody who is going to value the collective over the individual, we want somebody who has a vision, who can communicate, who has a solid football foundation, who understands how football is interconnected and what that means. That’s been our focus in these last few days honing in on what we want. In terms of specific names, we’re going to meet after this and talk about that further.”