Minnesota Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer is going to be suspended for the first three games of the regular season. He is being disciplined for his extremely offensive comments to former punter Chris Kluwe. The suspension will likely be reduced to two games if Priefer undergoes sensitivity training. Initially, I assumed that the Vikings would simply go through the first two, maybe three, games with assistant special teams coach Ryan Ficken in charge of the special teams. This is Ficken's second season coaching under Priefer. It's his eighth year with the Vikings. He's worked with the running backs and receivers in the previous years. Ficken is an experienced NFL assistant coach. He knows the Vikings players. He knows the system and practice organization run by Priefer. Allowing Ryan Ficken to take over made such sense that I was surprised when head coach Mike Zimmer said, at the start of training camp, that they were undecided as to how they would proceed in Priefer's absence. The Minnesota Vikings announced yesterday that they have hired veteran special teams coach Joe Marciano to "help out" with the special teams during the first two, maybe three, weeks of the regular season.
Joe Marciano had been the only special teams coach that the Houston Texans had ever known. He was semi-retired after being fired, with Gary Kubiak, last December. Kubiak's son Klint Kubiak is the Vikings assistant receivers coach so they might have had an in-house reference for the long-time special teams coach. Marciano has coached special teams in the NFL since 1986. He started his football coaching career in 1976. So, he has some coaching experience. A lot of coaching experience. That was the appeal. He has nearly thirty years of experience doing the very same coaching that he'll be doing with the Vikings for two, maybe three, games. I can only assume that the Vikings wanted someone with more than two years of special teams assisting experience making game day decisions for two, maybe three, game days. That experience is likely even more critical with a first-year head coach in Mike Zimmer.
Even through a couple of weeks of uncertainty, I still assumed that Ryan Ficken would get the nod. Hiring Joe Marciano from the outside might be perceived as a slight to Ficken. It really isn't. Mike Zimmer waited way far too long for his first head coaching shot. He's not taking any chances. Marciano arrived in Minnesota Saturday night. He'll be with the team and working with Priefer and Ficken through the rest of training camp and into the season. Then, he'll be needed for those game day decisions for the first two, maybe three, weeks of the 2014 NFL season.
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