Building A Coaching Staff

The Minnesota Vikings aren’t able to announce Kevin O’Connell as their next head coach until Monday. He’s still busy trying to help get the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl win. A drawback to hiring a successful coach, successful as in he’s coaching in the Super Bowl, is waiting for him to finish that successful run. In addition to the wait to get O’Connell in the building there’s been a painful wait to hire assistant coaches. For those that follow this process closely, it can be difficult to watch teams fill out their coaching staffs while the Vikings sit idle. No one wants a repeat of the awkward situation that the Indianapolis Colts faced a few years ago. After hiring Josh McDaniels, the Colts had to wait for the New England Patriots to finish their Super Bowl run. During that wait, they hired Matt Eberflus to be McDaniels’ defensive coordinator. After the Super Bowl, McDaniels decided to stay in New England. That left the Colts with a defensive coordinator and no head coach. Awkward. That won’t happen with the Vikings. O’Connell isn’t McDaniels. After apparently waiting a week, some assistant coach names have started being linked to the Vikings. Some of those coaches have even had interviews with the team that officially has no head coach. 

The strongest of those reports have Denver Broncos running backs coach Curtis Modkins joining the Vikings. His reported role will be as run game coordinator/running backs coach. He coached with O’Connell in San Francisco in 2016. Modkins’ strong coaching experience should be an asset to the relative newbie O’Connell. 

Curtis Modkins’ coaching trajectory:

TCU (1995) Graduate Assistant

TCU (1996) Secondary 

TCU (1997) Tight Ends 

New Mexico (1998-2001) Cornerbacks

Georgia Tech (2002) Defensive Backs

Georgia Tech (2003-07) Running Backs

Kansas City Chiefs (2008) Running Backs

Arizona Cardinals (2009) Running Backs

Buffalo Bills (2010-12) Offensive Coordinator 

Detroit Lions (2013-15) Running Backs 

San Francisco 49ers (2016) Offensive Coordinator 

Chicago Bears (2017) Running Backs

Denver Broncos (2018-21) Running Backs

That’s a strong start for O’Connell’s offensive coaching staff. 

Kevin O’Connell’s most important coaching hire is defensive coordinator. O’Connell will run the offense. The defensive coordinator will run the defense. Mike Zimmer’s choice of offensive coordinator over the past eight seasons often determined the Vikings annual fate. A defensive-minded head coach can put the team in a difficult position. If there’s any offensive success, the coordinator is soon plucked by another team to be their head coach. If there’s no offensive success, the coordinator is fired. That’s why Zimmer rifled through six offensive coordinators in eight years. O’Connell’s most important coaching hire is defensive coordinator. He has to get it right. Recent reports have the Vikings interested in the following coaches.

Aubrey Pleasant, Detroit Lions Passing Game Coordinator/Secondary

Anthony Weaver, Baltimore Ravens Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line

Sean Desai, former Chicago Bears Defensive Coordinator

The Vikings have interviewed Anthony Weaver and Sean Desai. They have requested an interview with Aubrey Pleasant. Lions Wire editor Jeff Risdon leaked that Pleasant is the favorite for the job. 

“A little bird birdie told me to expect Pleasant to land the job,” Risdon tweeted yesterday. “Good for him. Fantastic teacher. Will not easily be replaced.” 

I like all three of the apparent contenders. I probably like Pleasant the most. O’Connell is familiar with him from a single shared season with the Los Angeles Rams. Pleasant is a rising, young coach. If the league’s owners ever get a handle on their diversity hiring, a head coach job is probably in his future. Should he be named the Vikings defensive coordinator, hopefully that head coach job is few years away. I don’t think that the Vikings can go wrong with any of the three young, talented defensive coaches. 

The strongest reports/rumors for new Vikings coaches involve Modkins and the three defensive coordinator candidates. Other coaches linked to O’Connell and the Vikings include Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator/tight ends coach Wes Phillips. New head coaches often bring with them a coach or two, or more, from their old team. From the moment the Vikings chose O’Connell, I eyed Phillips as a potential offensive coordinator candidate. If his focus is on the passing game, it makes sense that Modkins is hired with a running game focus. “Collaboration” has been a Vikings keyword this offseason. Other Rams coaches that caught my eye include Jonathan Cooley and Dwayne Stukes. Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling reported that former Maryland defensive coordinator Brian Stewart is a candidate to be the Vikings defensive back coach. Stewart has been coaching since 1993. He’s coached defensive backs for four NFL teams and also had a two-year run as the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator. 

All of the waiting for the Vikings next coaching staff isn’t fun. I’m naturally impatient with things like this. I’m even more impatient with this weird limbo situation. At the same time, the Vikings have their head coach and don’t have their head coach. I just want to see all of the coaches in place. Kevin O’Connell came into this head coach process with a coaching staff in mind. Once the Vikings tapped him as the one, I’m sure that potential coaching staff immediately became much more real. Still, these weeks feel like months. All of the waiting will soon end. This time next week, most of the coaches will be in the building.