The Minnesota Vikings filled the last of their coaching vacancies with the hiring of former Kent State and Purdue head coach Darrell Hazell as wide receivers coach. That position opened up when the Chargers picked longtime receivers coach George Stewart to come with them to Los Angeles to be their special teams coordinator. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has often stressed the importance of having teachers on his coaching staff. Some of the best football teachers are found at the college level because it's needed there. NFL coaches spend so much time implementing a particular offensive or defensive system or game planning for an opponent that teaching techniques and fundamentals often fall to the side. In his three years as the Vikings head coach Zimmer has made teaching technique and fundamentals a coaching priority. Hazell certainly qualifies as a college football teacher. He was a college position coach for about 25 years before he finally got a head coaching shot in 2011. Hazell joins running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu and tight ends coach Clancy Barone as newcomers to the Vikings coaching staff.
Head Coach: Mike Zimmer
Offensive Coordinator: Pat Shurmur
Defensive Coordinator: George Edwards
Special Teams Coordinator: Mike Priefer
Quarterbacks: Kevin Stefanski
Running Backs: Kennedy Polamalu
Wide Receivers: Darrell Hazell
Tight Ends: Clancy Barone
Offensive Line: Tony Sparano
Defensive Line: Andre Patterson
Linebackers: Adam Zimmer
Defensive Backs: Jerry Gray
Strength and Conditioning: Brent Salazar
Assistant Wide Receivers: Drew Petzing
Assistant Defensive Line: Robert Rodriguez
Assistant Defensive Backs/Quality Control: Jonathan Gannon
Assistant Special Teams: Ryan Ficken
Offensive Assistant/Quality Control: Andrew Janocko
Defensive Assistant: Jeff Howard
Assistant Strength and Conditioning: Jeff Hurd
Assistant Strength and Conditioning: Chaz Mahle
It's interesting to follow the evolution of Mike Zimmer's coaching staff. The defense is easy to track. Zimmer brought in his own guys when he was hired in 2014. The only change since was the addition of assistant defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez in 2015. Defensive assistant Jeff Howard is the only holdover from the Leslie Frazier years. Defensive line coach Andre Patterson is on his second Vikings stint. He was Dennis Green's defensive line coach from 1998-99. While the defensive coaches haven't changed much in the last three years the offense is a whole other story. Assistant receivers coach Drew Petzing is the most tenured offensive coach at his current position. He came from the Cleveland Browns with Norv Turner in 2014. There's been quite a bit of shuffling of the offensive coaches in the past year. At the start of the 2016 season the Vikings offensive coaching staff looked like this.
Offensive Coordinator: Norv Turner
Quarterbacks Coach: Scott Turner
Running Backs Coach: Kevin Stefanski
Wide Receivers Coach: George Stewart
Tight Ends Coach: Pat Shurnur
Offensive Line Coach: Tony Sparano
A quick glance at the current coaching roster shows that Tony Sparano is the only coach at the same position now that he had in September. The coaching changes unfortunately started during the 2016 season. Norv Turner left in Novemeber. Pat Shurmur replaced him. Scott Turner left at the end of the season. Kevin Stefanski replaced him. Those moves left holes at running back and tight end. Kennedy Polamalu and Clancy Barone were hired to fill those roles. The Chargers gave George Stewart his long-deserved coordinator job. Darrell Hazell was hired this week to replace him.
Kevin Stefanski's NFL coaching life is really no different from that of most coaches. Because I've followed it closely since it's beginning I find it fascinating. He's been a Vikings coaching constant since Brad Childress brought him to Minnesota in 2006. He was an assistant to Childress from 2006-08. He assisted with the quarterbacks from 2009-13. A stretch that offered him the opportunity to work with a range of quarterbacks from the likes of Joe Webb to Brett Favre. Stefanski saw quarterbacking extremes in a single season. He coached tight ends from 2014-15 and running backs last year. Now, Stefanski is the Vikings quarterbacks coach. He's also the team's most tenured coach. An offensive coordinator post is likely his next step. Or, perhaps a head coaching opportunity at a smaller college. They teach technique there and Stefanski has been doing that at three different offensive positions in the last three years. It's been fun and interesting to watch his coaching evolution. An evolution that's much like that of most coaches. The only difference being that his has been with one team.
There's a chance that Hazell won't be the Vikings last coaching addition. Assistant offensive line coach Hank Fraley moved to the college ranks last month. UCLA hired him to coach their offensive linemen. It remains to be seen whether the Vikings will add another coach to help Tony Sparano with the linemen. Including the practice squad, the offensive line routinely numbers more than ten players. That's a lot for a single coach. Maybe Matt Birk or Steve Hutchinson (or both) are looking for something to do.
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