Kwesi Adofo-Mensah certainly isn’t batting 1,000 during his time as Vikings general manager. The results – both in terms of success in the NFL Draft and on the field – show as much.

And the quarterback position heading into the 2025 campaign was bungled, particularly considering the 14-win season Minnesota experienced in 2024 and the quality of the roster outside of the most important position this fall.

So there’s a fair amount for which to criticize Adofo-Mensah.

But there also may be reasons to assume better days are to come. Some of those came in his post-mortem press conference Tuesday at the team’s practice facility in Eagan, as a reflective Adofo-Mensah evaluated Minnesota’s build of last season’s quarterback room.

He acknowledged the importance of the spot, noting the Vikings have won at a high clip in recent years “when we’ve gotten a certain level of play at that position, allowing us to be explosive enough on offense to set the table for how we play on defense, special teams.”

And the general manager noted the position wasn’t properly constructed to produce such play under center this fall, which was ultimately the Vikings’ fatal flaw.

When reflecting on the process that led to the decision not to franchise tag Sam Darnold, Adofo-Mensah said he still understands how Minnesota came to that conclusion. But he said the front office could’ve “executed better in certain places.”

That probably entailed entering training camp with more than one realistic option under center – a 22 year old, at that. Adofo-Mensah knows the path of young players “isn’t linear” and that you never know how any player’s first four or five starts will go.

“We have, obviously, a lot of historical studies about what those first few games are going to look like, or what that first year could look like in a sense. And, ultimately, that’s how we tried to build the team, knowing that those growth pains could come, to be able to overcome them and withstand them in a certain sense,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to go on incomplete information. And the information we had was all good, but it was, admittedly, incomplete and small sample. Ultimately, we trusted in the information we had, we trusted in our coaches, we trusted in the team we had around him to do that.”

But it didn’t pan out – not immediately, anyway. And there was no Plan B to turn to. Carson Wentz didn’t even join the team until just prior to the start of the regular season. There was likely an assumption Minnesota would keep Daniel Jones in the building after he signed with the team midway through the 2024 campaign. Instead, Jones bolted for Indianapolis in the offseason, where he won the starting job in camp and went 8-5 in 13 starts this fall.

“Learning lessons – I think execution wise, you have to treat it as such,” Adofo-Mensah said. “No matter what the conversations and relationships are, free agents are free for a reason, and they’re allowed to vet all their options, and ultimately we could have executed better around that.”

In an ideal world, Minnesota wouldn’t have made such mistakes. Had it not, it’s very likely the Vikings would have been a playoff team again this fall. But there’s power in admitting to miscues and attempting to learn and grow from them moving forward.

“You try to make sure that you don’t lock yourselves into what you did and thinking that it’s always right, so there are those nights that you wake up and stare at the ceiling and ask yourself (questions),” Adofo-Mensah said. “I’ve been accountable my whole life, and I don’t think you run from opportunities to get better, so I want to always make sure that I’m doing that.”

That’s the proper mindset. It’s Step 1 in the process of turning any tide. Adofo-Mensah doesn’t plan on making the same mistakes this offseason. If his words are any indication, J.J. McCarthy will not be handed the starting quarterback job in 2026.

Adofo-Mensah said the Vikings’ internal discussions are centered on returning the quarterback room “to a competitive, deep enough standpoint” to be able to execute coach Kevin O’Connell’s downfield passing attack.

Lesson learned. That’s Step 1. The plan is solid in theory. Now comes the most important part over the coming months: The execution.

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Gophers men’s basketball coach Niko Medved is doing whatever he can to help keep his shorthanded rotation in Big Ten games this season — mixing in zone defenses and playing at a slower offensive pace than he wants.

The recipe was recently coming up one possession short in back-to-back losses, 78-75 to Wisconsin on Tuesday and 70-69 in overtime to Southern Cal on Jan. 9. But the formula fell much shorter in a 77-67 loss to No. 13 Illinois on Saturday at State Farm Arena in Champaign, Ill.

Medved’s zone defense stifled the Illini and helped Minnesota (10-8, 3-4 Big Ten) force a 34-34 tie at halftime, but Illinois (15-3, 6-1) used an 18-7 run to create breathing room at 74-62 with 3:24 remaining in the game.

Minnesota forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson scored a 22 points on a career high five 3-pointers. Cade Tyson added 15 and fouled out in the last minute.

Illini’s 7-foot-2 center Zvonimir Ivisic poised problems for the Gophers. He had 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Crocker-Johnson scored Minnesota’s opening 11 points, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. He had a game-high 17 points in the first half.

Later in the first half, Gophers coach Niko Medved went to a zone defense — like he did at that time in the Wisconsin loss. It had a similar affect, contributing to the Illini missing 10 straight shots and going seven minutes without a point.

The U took a 32-26 lead during that stretch, but the Illini tied it at 34-34 at the break.

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Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb

Parents spend a lot of time thinking about how to prepare their children for adulthood. We talk about education, character, and work ethic, but money often gets pushed to the side. That’s a mistake. How children observe and experience money early on can shape their financial behavior well into adulthood.

The good news is that teaching kids about money doesn’t require complex spreadsheets or long lectures. In fact, some of the most effective lessons are simple, practical, and woven into everyday life.

Start early, keep it simple

Money lessons can begin earlier than many parents expect. Toddlers quickly learn about waiting, choosing, and tradeoffs, all core ideas behind saving. A clear jar or piggy bank lets children see money accumulate and introduces the idea that saving has a purpose.

Just as important is helping kids feel comfortable with their family’s financial reality. Teaching contentment and perspective early on can reduce unhealthy comparisons later.

Introduce real-world money tools

Opening a basic bank account is often a child’s first hands-on experience with money management. It creates a natural way to talk about deposits, withdrawals, and keeping track of balances.

As kids grow into their teens, saving for larger goals such as a car or travel helps connect effort and planning with outcomes. When they’re ready, conversations about credit should focus on discipline: using credit cards for convenience, paying balances in full, and avoiding purchases they can’t afford.

Why financial literacy matters

Teenagers overwhelmingly say financial knowledge is important to achieving their life goals. At the same time, many struggle with basics like budgeting, saving, and using credit responsibly. While more schools are beginning to offer personal finance classes, many still don’t. That leaves parents as the primary and often most trusted source of financial guidance.

That role matters even more today, when young people often turn to social media for financial advice. Some of that content can be helpful, but much of it isn’t. Families who talk openly about money can help their kids separate realistic guidance from fads.

Let teens earn their spending money

Part-time jobs teach lessons that allowances can’t. Earning money builds confidence and independence, and it helps teenagers understand how much work goes into maintaining a lifestyle. That awareness often leads to better decisions when they’re managing money on their own.

Teach common-sense budgeting

Budgeting is easier to learn before the stakes are high. As teens approach college or independent living, parents can walk them through managing a checking account, paying bills on time, and understanding monthly expenses.

Sharing examples from your own household helps make these concepts real, such as showing your kids what it costs to run a car, pay utilities, or buy groceries. It also introduces the idea that every financial choice involves tradeoffs.

Introduce investing without overcomplicating it

Long-term investing can feel abstract to young people, but the basics are approachable. Explain what stocks and bonds are, why diversification matters, and how time can work in an investor’s favor.

As kids get older, reviewing account statements together or tracking progress toward a goal can help them understand how money grows, and that risk is present in all investing.

Be thoughtful about offering financial help

Supporting young adults financially doesn’t always mean stepping in immediately. Making and learning from mistakes is often part of becoming financially independent. While every situation is different, repeated bailouts can delay that independence, however well-intentioned the effort.

Set realistic lifestyle expectations

Young adults starting out won’t live the same lifestyle they grew up with. Smaller apartments, tighter budgets, and different priorities are normal parts of early adulthood. Helping kids understand that reality can reduce frustration and build confidence.

Above all, be honest in your conversations

Teaching kids about money isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about starting honest conversations, offering guidance along the way, and modeling healthy habits. For families facing more complex decisions, a financial adviser who understands your values can be a helpful partner in preparing the next generation for financial independence.

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The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Bruce Helmer and Peg Webb are financial advisers at Wealth Enhancement Group and co-hosts of “Your Money” on WCCO 830 AM on Sunday mornings. Email Bruce and Peg at yourmoney@wealthenhancement.com. Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC, a registered investment adviser and affiliate of Wealth Enhancement Group.

 

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI

As its immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities intensifies, the Trump administration is leaning into messaging that borrows from phrases, images and music about national identity that have become popular among right-wing groups.

On Jan. 9, two days after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent’s shooting of Renee Good sent tensions in Minneapolis to a fever pitch, the Department of Homeland Security posted to social media an image of a man on a horse riding through a snowy, mountainous landscape with the words “We’ll have our home again.” That’s the chorus to a song about ousting a foreign presence by a self-described “folk-punk” band that the Proud Boys and other far-right and white supremacist groups have used.

The next day, the Department of Labor posted on X: “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage. Remember who you are, American.” Several Trump critics on the social media site drew a parallel to a notorious Nazi slogan, “One People, One Realm, One Leader.”

And this past week, as President Donald Trump stepped up his pressure campaign to claim Greenland, the White House posted an image on X that showed a dog sled facing a fork in the trail, one that leads to an American flag and the White House and another that leads to the Russian and Chinese flags. Above the image was the phrase, “Which way, Greenland Man?”

The post refers to a meme that riffs off the title of a notorious white supremacist book titled “Which Way Western Man?” The administration had already used the framing in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruiting post last year, which asked, “Which way, American Man?”

The flurry of posts has renewed criticism about a recurring pattern in Trump’s second term — the sometimes cryptic use of imagery popular with the far right and white supremacists in the administration’s campaign to rally the nation behind its immigration crackdown, which it frames as a battle to preserve Western civilization.

Administration tells critics to ‘get a grip’

The administration says it’s tired of criticism that its messaging is framed around white supremacy or Nazi slogans.

“It seems that the mainstream media has become a meme of their own: The deranged leftist who claims everything they dislike must be Nazi propaganda,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “This line of attack is boring and tired. Get a grip.”

Referring to the “We’ll Have Our Home Again” post, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said it “was a reference to 20-plus million illegal aliens invading the country.”

“I don’t know where you guys are getting this stuff,” she added, “but it is absurd.”

César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor at Ohio State University, said the administration’s references are a choice.

“You don’t have to dip into white supremacist sloganeering to promote immigration regulation,” he said, noting that former President Bill Clinton signed two bills toughening penalties on immigrants who were in the country illegally in the 1990s without doing so.

He added that the administration seems to calibrate its references.

“The imagery is not simply a reproduction of common white supremacist imagery or text, but a play on that imagery — and that gives them the breathing room they want,” Garcia Hernández said.

Trump won his second term with robust support from Latino voters and increased his backing among both Black and Asian voters, all while running on pledges of tough border enforcement and mass deportations.

Still, Trump for years has created enthusiasm among white supremacist groups, who see his nationalist and anti-immigrant stance as validating their own.

The president has complained that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and spoken favorably about white immigrants compared to other immigrants. In his first term, he bemoaned the number of immigrants coming from what he called “shithole countries” such as Haiti or ones in Africa, while wondering why the U.S. doesn’t draw more people from Norway. Last month, he called Somali immigrants “garbage.”

Trump changed immigration policy to favor whites in one area by shutting down the admission of refugees except for white South Africans, whom he contends, against evidence, are being discriminated against in their home country.

Online appeal for the far right

Some of Trump’s most prominent supporters have openly embraced the cause of white nationalists.

Elon Musk, who was Trump’s biggest donor during the 2024 presidential campaign and ran the president’s Department of Government Efficiency for the first part of last year, recirculated a user post on X, the social platform he owns, that called for “white solidarity” to prevent the mass murder of white men and added a “100” emoji indicating agreement.

The administration’s history has led to claims that it’s using white supremacist language even when there is no evidence for it.

In the aftermath of the Good shooting in Minnesota, a sign that appeared on Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s lectern during a news conference — reading “One Of Ours, All Of Yours” — drew widespread attention on social media, with many commentators suggesting it was a Nazi phrase. The Southern Poverty Law Center, however, could not trace the words to any Nazi slogan.

McLaughlin, the DHS spokeswoman, said it was a reference to the subject of the press conference: “a CBP officer who was shot — he was one of our officers and all of the country’s federal law enforcement officer,” she wrote in an email.

Hannah Gais, a senior researcher with the SPLC, has long tracked white supremacist groups and said she thinks the administration knows what it’s doing with its messaging slogans.

“They know their base is this overly online right-winger who they know will go nuts if they say ‘Which Way, Western Man?’” Gais said. “I don’t think it’s a tenable strategy for the long term because the stuff is incomprehensible to most people. And if it is comprehensible, people don’t like it.”

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