Sid's jottings

JOTTINGS

• I wonder where Bill Belichick would be if he had accepted the job as defensive coordinator with the Vikings in 1984, when Les Steckel was coach. I recall interviewing Belichick, then a Giants assistant, and he was offered the job, but he turned it down because his wife was pregnant.

• Free agent Cordarrelle Patterson recently said on a podcast that he would love to play running back for the Vikings, noting the success that the Packers had in making wide receiver Ty Montgomery into a running back this season. It would be an interesting option for the Vikings, who currently have Adrian Peterson on the books for $18 million in 2017. In his four-year career with the Vikings, Patterson has 31 carries for 333 yards and four touchdowns .

• Eden Prairie native and University of Minnesota graduate Todd Downing was recently named Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator, replacing former Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who was let go by coach Jack Del Rio, the former Vikings linebacker. Downing, who had been Raiders quarterbacks coach, got his start in coaching as an assistant for Eden Prairie in 1999 and then worked with the Vikings as a football systems analyst and offensive quality control coach for three years. Also of note is that former Vikings coach Mike Tice will remain with Oakland as offensive line coach.

• I have gotten to know Kevin Warren very well over his 12 seasons as Vikings chief operating officer. On Saturday, Warren was recognized as an NFL pioneer for being the highest-ranking African-American on the business side of an NFL team. If anyone deserves such an award and recognition, it is him.

• Not since Tyus Jones has a Minnesota basketball recruit been as highly targeted as Rochester John Marshall's Matthew Hurt, ranked as the sixth-best player in the Class of 2019. On Jan. 14, North Carolina coach Roy Williams and one of his assistants flew to Rochester to see Hurt play, only hours after the Tar Heels beat Florida State.