Minnesota Vikings General Manager and Head Coach Candidates

The Minnesota Vikings kicked off their search for a new general manager on Monday. The search party is made up of owners Zygi and Mark Wilf, COO Andrew Miller, and player personnel executives. Some candidate names started to emerge Wednesday evening by way of reported interview requests. I like the diverse net that the Vikings have cast. The current general manager list has eight candidates. 

The General Manager Candidates

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Cleveland Browns President of Football Operations

Glenn Cook, Cleveland Browns Vice President of Player Personnel

Eliot Wolf, New England Patriots Player Personnel Consultant

John Spytek, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vice President of Player Personnel

Brandon Brown, Philadelphia Eagles Director of Player Personnel

Ryan Poles, Kansas City Chiefs Director of Player Personnel

Catherine Raiche, Philadelphia Eagles Vice President of Football Operations

Monti Ossenfort, Tennessee Titans Director of Player Personnel

Three GM interviews have reportedly been scheduled:

Today: Monti Ossenfort

Monday: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

Tuesday: Ryan Poles

For whatever reason, my preference for the Vikings next general manager seems to drift toward Ryan Poles, Monti Ossenfort, and Glenn Cook. I prefer on-the-ground scouting experience over analytics. I understand that analytics can be very important in building a football team. I just prefer that the top shot-caller be on the scouting and talent evaluation side of things. 

The Vikings plan to hire a general manager before they hire the head coach. That makes sense as the general manager should be part of the search for the head coach. That hasn’t stopped the Vikings from requesting interviews with some head coach candidates. Several interview requests were reported yesterday.

The Head Coach Candidates

Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defensive Coordinator

Nathaniel Hackett, Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator

Dan Quinn, Dallas Cowboys Defensive Coordinator 

DeMeco Ryans, San Francisco 49ers Defensive Coordinator

Kellen Moore, Dallas Cowboys Offensive Coordinator 

Jonathan Gannon, Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator

Kevin O’Connell, Los Angeles Rams Offensive Coordinator

All of the above candidates are coaching in the playoffs. Despite being without their general manager, the interview with Nathaniel Hackett will reportedly take place today. Since the Packers have a first round bye, he’s eligible to interview with teams through the end of this weekend. The remaining six candidates are able to interview with other teams after the first round of the playoffs. 

Todd Bowles and Dan Quinn were in the running for the Vikings head coach job in 2014. Bowles was set for a second interview before Mike Zimmer was hired. 

Jonathan Gannon was an assistant defensive backs coach for Zimmer from 2014-17. 

I’ll feel better about the Vikings head coach candidates when Byron Leftwich and Eric Bieniemy are added to the list. Maybe Brian Daboll and Patrick Graham as well. 

In a few weeks, the Vikings will be hiring the ninth head coach on my watch. Bud Grant was the incumbent when I found the Vikings as an itty-bitty fan of football. Surprisingly, this is only the fourth head coach search. Twice, the Vikings hired from within. Les Steckel was disastrously promoted in 1984. Jerry Burns was deservedly promoted in 1986. Grant came out of retirement to settle things during the 1985 season. Twice, the Vikings hired their interim head coaches. Mike Tice replaced Dennis Green at the end of the 2001 season. Tice was given the full-time gig after the season. Leslie Frazier replaced Brad Childress during the very strange 2010 season. Frazier was given the full-time gig after the season. Since the 1960s, the Vikings have conducted only four head coach searches.

1992: Dennis Green

2006: Brad Childress

2014: Mike Zimmer

2022: ?

The Wilf family has presided over three of those searches. It’s best to have patience. I often have trouble being patient. I want these sort of things to just get done. Getting the general manager and head coach hires right is the most important thing. Patience.