The Minnesota Vikings 2021 Coaching Staff is finally complete. They filled their final two coaching vacancies. Some might’ve thought they were done. It’s April and the vacancies were assistant special teams coach and assistant strength and conditioning coach. Robert Steeples was hired as assistant special teams coach. I was beginning to think that the Ryan Ficken might be forced to tackle the entirety of special teams by himself in his first year as the coordinator. I’m sure that this coaching news is a greater relief for him than it is for me. Steeples is an interesting hire in that he once played for the Vikings. After his college football days at Missouri and Memphis, he was signed to the team’s practice squad in September of 2013. He was added to the active roster later that season and appeared in two games. A cornerback, all of Steeples’ NFL action was on special teams. After being released by the Vikings at the end of training camp in 2014, he had practice squad stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. Coaching came next for Steeples at the St. Louis high school for which he had played. In 2016, he took over a De Smet Jesuit High School program that had gone 2-18 in the two years prior to his arrival. By his fourth season, the Spartans were state champions. De Smet’s defensive transformation under Steeples was astonishing. The Spartans gave up 51.2 points per game the year before he arrived. During their undefeated, state title season, they gave up just 8.6 points per game. Steeples received national coach of the year honors from the All-American Bowl. Colleges took notice of the young coach. He was a candidate for the Notre Dame cornerback job a year ago. Mike Zimmer and the Vikings apparently took notice as well. Steeples will be coaching the team for which he once played. Marquis Johnson was hired as assistant strength and conditioning coach. This will be his second NFL job. He was an assistant strength and conditioning coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2017-18. More recently, Johnson was the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Jackson State in 2020. Did Deion Sanders recommend Johnson to Zimmer?
The Vikings final coaching move of the 2021 coaching cycle was promoting co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Andre Patterson to assistant head coach. He’ll have quite the business card as assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator/defensive line is now next to his name. Plus, he leads the team’s social justice committee. Patterson is the slash of coaches.
Minnesota Vikings 2021 Coaches
Head Coach: Mike Zimmer
Offensive Coaches:
Offensive Coordinator: Klint Kubiak
Quarterbacks Coach: Andrew Janocko
Running Backs Coach: Kennedy Polamalu
Receivers Coach: Keenan McCardell
Tight Ends Coach: Brian Pariani
Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator: Rick Dennison
Assistant Offensive Line Coach: Phil Rauscher
Offensive Quality Control: Christian Jones
Offensive Quality Control: AC Patterson
Defensive Coaches:
Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach: Andre Patterson
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach: Adam Zimmer
Assistant Defensive Line Coach: Imarjaye Albury
Defensive Backs Coach: Karl Scott
Assistant Defensive Backs Coach: Roy Anderson
Defensive Quality Control: Sam Siefkes
Senior Defensive Assistant: Paul Guenther
Special Teams Coaches:
Special Teams Coordinator: Ryan Ficken
Assistant Special Teams Coach: Robert Steeples
Strength and Conditioning Coaches:
Strength and Conditioning Coordinator: Josh Hingst
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach: Derik Keyes
Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach: Marquis Johnson
***
New Vikings coaches in 2021:
Receivers Coach: Keenan McCardell
Senior Defensive Assistant: Paul Guenther
Defensive Backs Coach: Karl Scott
Defensive Quality Control: Sam Siefkes
Assistant Special Teams Coach: Robert Steeples
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Josh Hingst
Assistant Strength and Conditioning: Marquis Johnson
Keenan McCardell is the “splashy” addition. It’s the “young” coaching additions that intrigue me the most. I was really disappointed when 2020 defensive backs coach Daronte Jones left after a single season for the LSU defensive coordinator job. That’s what happens when you hire talented football coaches. Karl Scott is a terrific replacement. After working for Nick Saban for a few seasons, he’ll be well prepared to work for Zimmer. Saban and Zimmer are defensive-minded head coaches with a particularly hands-on approach to coaching defensive backs. Both favor pattern-matching zone defenses. Scott feels like the perfect coach to step from Alabama to Minnesota. My biggest concern is that he might have a similar career path as Daronte Jones. A college team might soon come calling to hire him as their defensive coordinator. Scott received some interest this offseason from Mike Locksley to be his DC at Maryland. If Scott’s stay in Minnesota is a short one, the Vikings may have just hired his potential replacement in Robert Steeples. I’ve been curious about Sam Siefkes since the Vikings hired him. I can’t recall a college defensive coordinator being hired as an NFL quality control coach. Even if that college coordinator job is at smaller colleges like Wofford and University of Wisconsin-Platteville. It’s rare for a quality control coach to have Siefke’s experience. I’m really curious to see the defensive thoughts and ideas that he might be bringing to the Vikings. I’m also curious to see the defensive thoughts and ideas that new senior defensive assistant Paul Guenther might be bringing to the Vikings.
Old coaches in new places:
Offensive Coordinator: Klint Kubiak
-was quarterbacks coach
Quarterbacks Coach: Andrew Janocko
-was receivers coach
Special Teams Coordinator: Ryan Ficken
-was special teams assistant coach
I was a fan of the Vikings hiring from within to fill their available coordinator positions. I’m looking forward to Klint Kubiak’s version of the offense that his father helped spread around the league. It’s easy to say now but I wish that Ryan Ficken was promoted to the special teams coordinator job two years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment