The Suffield Academy basketball team had never staged a dunk contest until coach Rick Dennison, brainy first-year math teacher and former brawny Denver Broncos linebacker, gathered his private Connecticut prep schoolers in that small gymnasium back in 1992.
"These kids couldn't even touch the net," laughed Dennison, now 61 and trying to help the Vikings rise higher offensively as their new line coach and run game coordinator.
"They looked at me like I was crazy. 'Why are we having a dunk contest?' I said, 'You got to visualize. You got to try. I want to see you jump as high as you can. That's how we'll get better.' They enjoyed it. That's part of learning."
Teaching is in Dennison's blood. Literally.
His father, George, was a history professor and president at the University of Montana. His brother, Rob, is a retired math teacher. And Dennison, with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in fluid mechanics, still considers himself a teacher, a schematic gridiron problem-solver schooled long ago in Denver by Alex Gibbs, the legendary line coach and godfather of the modern zone blocking scheme the Vikings have bought into this season.
"In 2015, the year we won the Super Bowl in Denver, our offensive line went through hell, but Rico held it together and found a way to help me call games to fit the strength of our team," said Gary Kubiak, Denver's head coach that year and now Vikings assistant coach/offensive consultant.
Dennison, by the way, became "Rico" in the summer of 1982. He was an undrafted rookie out of Colorado State when Broncos linebackers coach Bob Zeman gave him the nickname. "It stuck," says Rico.
Dennison was Kubiak's offensive coordinator in 2015. On Day 1 of OTAs, Pro Bowl left tackle Ryan Clady suffered a season-ending knee injury. In Week 3, Clady's backup, Ty Sambrailo, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Former Cretin-Derham Hall standout Ryan Harris moved over from right tackle and made it work.
"Just watching Rico piece through that situation and for us to keep winning was very, very impressive," Kubiak said.
Especially when you consider that four of the linemen who started in the 24-10 upset of Carolina in Super Bowl 50 never played again for the Broncos.
"And they won that Super Bowl with Peyton Manning throwing for 141 yards," said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who hired Kubiak and Dennison because they're 100% of like mind in their allegiance to running the football, unlike last year's puzzling round-peg-square-hole hire of offensive coordinator John DeFilippo.
