All - Time Super Bowl Team

59 Super Bowls bring out some of the best football players to ever play the game. On the eve of Super Bowl LX, here’s a team of those great players. 

All - Time Super Bowl Team

Offense

Quarterback 

Tom Brady, New England Patriots/Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Running Back

Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys

Fullback

Larry Csonka, Miami Dolphins

Ends

Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers

Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

Tight End

Rob Gronkowski. New England Patriots/Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Tackles

Art Shell, Oakland Raiders

Forrest Gregg, Green Bay Packers

Guards

John Ayers San Francisco 49ers

Larry Little, Miami Dolphins 

Center

Mike Webster, Pittsburgh Steelers

Defense

Defensive Ends

Reggie White, Green Bay Packers

Willie Davis, Green Bay Packers

Defensive Tackles

Alan Page, Minnesota Vikings

Manny Fernandez, Miami Dolphins

Linebackers

Lawrence Taylor, New York Giants

Jack Lambert, Pittsburgh Steelers

Jack Ham, Pittsburgh Steelers

Cornerbacks

Mel Blount, Pittsburgh Steelers

Deion Sanders, San Francisco 49ers/Dallas Cowboys

Safeties

Jake Scott, Miami Dolphins

Ronnie Lott, San Francisco 49ers

Special Teams

Kicker

Adam Vinatieri, New England Patriots/Indianapolis Colts

Punter

Ray Guy, Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders

Returner

Desmond Howard, Green Bay Packers

Assuming that Rob Gronkowski makes the Pro Hall of Fame next year and teammate Tom Brady makes it whenever, John Ayers, Jake Scott, Manny Fernandez, and Desmond Howard are the only players on this team without a Canton bust. Ayers was always an underrated player on those great 49ers teams. Scott and Howard were Super Bowl MVPs. Fernandez should’ve received the MVP that went to Larry Csonka. Scott has a Hall of Fame argument that hasn’t been properly argued. 

The coach of this team of Super Bowl greats is an easy choice. 

Bill Belichick

It will forever be astonishing that 11 supposedly astute observers of professional football decided that Bill Belichick isn’t a first ballot Hall of Famer. Belichick is as deserving of the honor as Jerry Rice, Reggie White, and Lawrence Taylor. I hope those 11 dipshits are happy. 

Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026

The hardware for the 2025 season was handed out last night at NFL Honors. Congratulations on the winners of the awards. On most occasions, it’s the announcement of the upcoming Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame that holds my interest. This year was no different. 

Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Drew Brees

Larry Fitzgerald

Luke Kuechly

Adam Vinatieri

Roger Craig

If Kevin Williams had managed to make it through the process, this Class would rank with my favorites. Watching Larry Fitzgerald and Luke Kuechly play football was so much fun. They are two of my favorite non-Minnesota Vikings players of any era. With Fitzgerald’s Minnesota roots it feels as if he’s Vikings-adjacent. As the team’s ball boy during Vikings training camps in the late-1990s, Fitzgerald joined Cris Carter and Randy Moss as future Pro Football Hall of Fame receivers on those Mankato practice fields. I’d probably hold Drew Brees in higher esteem if it wasn’t for his bounty-gating New Orleans Saints teams. Despite playing in the long shadow of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, Brees was a brilliant, exciting quarterback. There aren’t many in Pro Football Hall of Fame for exclusively special teams. Adam Vinatieri deserves to be one of them. He’s the league’s all-time leading scorer. He has Super Bowl-winning kicks. He’s arguably the best kicker in league history. Despite the position he played, Vinatieri had the sort of career that’s deserving of an early entry into Canton. Finally, Roger Craig finally made it. I suppose that he had a long Hall wait because his career stats don’t rank with the best running back’s in league history. The 1980s San Francisco 49ers were one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Fred Dean, and Charles Haley are the only players from those teams in Canton. Haley made it for his Dallas days as much as his 49ers days. As great as Montana and Rice were, Craig was often the engine of the offense. He should’ve made it to the Hall of Fame before he his the Senior pool. 

It’s unfortunate that the highlight of this terrific Pro Football Hall of Fame Class is a person not in it. There isn’t a single reason for Bill Belichick to not make it to Canton in his first year of eligibility. He’s more deserving of that honor than Drew Brees or Larry Fitzgerald. It doesn’t even seem possible. Yet, here we are. Part of the reason is an ludicrous voting process. One that that’s seen its last days. It should never have seen any days. The biggest reason Belichick isn’t part of this Class is the 11 idiots that didn’t vote for him. I don’t give a shit about their reasons. They can talk in circles about the reasoning but it’s only ever going to come down to spite. The voters are trusted with honoring the history of pro football. The 11 idiots spit on that trust and punished someone they personally didn’t like. Oh, Belichick is going to get to Canton. That’s what those 11 idiots will say to make themselves feel better, to make them feel like they’re still honoring pro football’s great history. Well, the damage is already done. They’ve taken away the honor of being a first ballot Hall of Famer. It’s what Bill Belichick deserved. It’s what his career deserved. Poof. Gone.

It sure would’ve been nice to see Kevin Williams and especially Bill Belichick round out this Class. As it stands, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a great, fun Class. Congratulations to the five new Pro Football Hall of Famers. See you in Canton in August. 

Ranking The 59 Super Bowls

In a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots have emerged as the participants in Super Bowl LX. The first one was a pretty good game. Hopefully, this rematch is a pretty good game. The following is a ranking of the fifty-nine Super Bowls. Hopefully, Super LV finds a high spot in next year’s ranking. 

59. Super Bowl IV-Kansas City Chiefs 23, Minnesota Vikings 7

58. Super Bowl VIII-Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7

57. Super Bowl IX-Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Minnesota Vikings 6

56. Super Bowl XI-Oakland Raiders 32, Minnesota Vikings 14

55. Super Bowl XXIV-San Francisco 49ers 55, Denver Broncos 10

54. Super Bowl XLVIII-Seattle Seahawks 43, Denver Broncos 8

53. Super Bowl XX-Chicago Bears 46, New England Patriots 10

52. Super Bowl XXXV-Baltimore Ravens 34, New York Giants 7

51. Super Bowl XXIX-San Francisco 49ers 49, San Diego Chargers 26

50. Super Bowl XXXVII-Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Oakland Raiders 21

49. Super Bowl XXII-Washington Redskins 42, Denver Broncos 10

48. Super Bowl XXVII-Dallas Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17

47. Super Bowl XII-Dallas Cowboys 27, Denver Broncos 10

46. Super Bowl XXXIII Denver Broncos 34, Atlanta Falcons 19

45. Super Bowl XVIII Los Angeles Raiders 38, Washington Redskins 9

44. Super Bowl XXVI-Washington Redskins 37, Buffalo Bills 24

43. Super Bowl XV-Oakland Raiders 27, Philadelphia Eagles 10

42. Super Bowl I-Green Bay Packers 35, Kansas City Chiefs 10

41. Super Bowl VI-Dallas Cowboys 24, Miami Dolphins 3

40. Super Bowl XL-Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Seattle Seahawks 10

39. Super Bowl XLI-Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17

38. Super Bowl II-Green Bay Packers 33, Oakland Raiders 14

37. Super Bowl XIX-San Francisco 49ers, 38, Miami Dolphins 16

36. Super Bowl V-Baltimore Colts 16, Dallas Cowboys 13

35. Super Bowl VII-Miami Dolphins 14, Washington Redskins 7

34. Super Bowl XXVIII-Dallas Cowboys 30, Buffalo Bills 13

33. Super Bowl XXI-New York Giants 39, Denver Broncos 20

32. Super Bowl XLIX-Philadelphia Eagles 40, Kansas City Chiefs 22

31. Super Bowl LV-Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Kansas City Chiefs 9
30. Super Bowl XXXI-Green Bay Packers 35, New England Patriots 21

29. Super Bowl XXX-Dallas Cowboys 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 17
28. Super Bowl L-Denver Broncos 24, Carolina Panthers 10
27. Super Bowl XVII-Washington Redskins 27, Miami Dolphins 17

26. Super Bowl XLIV-New Orleans Saints 31, Indianapolis Colts 17
25. Super Bowl LIII-New England Patriots 13, Los Angeles Rams 3
24. Super Bowl XXXIX-New England Patriots 24, Philadelphia Eagles 21

23. Super Bowl XLV-Green Bay Packers 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 25

22. Super Bowl XLVI-New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17

21. Super Bowl XXXII-Denver Broncos 31, Green Bay Packers 24

20. Super Bowl III-New York Jets 16, Baltimore Colts 7

19. Super Bowl XLVII-Baltimore Ravens 34, San Francisco 49ers 31
18. Super Bowl XXXIV-St. Louis Rams 23, Tennessee Titans 16

17. Super Bowl XXXVI-New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17

16. Super Bowl XIV-Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Los Angeles Rams 19

15. Super Bowl LIV-Kansas City Chiefs 31, San Francisco 49ers 20

14. Super Bowl XVI-San Francisco 49ers 26, Cincinnati Bengals 21

13. Super Bowl LVI-Los Angeles Rams 23, Cincinnati Bengals 20

12. Super Bowl LII-Philadelphia Eagles 41, New England Patriots 33

11. Super Bowl LVII-Kansas City Chiefs 38, Philadelphia Eagles 35
10. Super Bowl X-Pittsburgh Steelers 21, Dallas Cowboys 17

  9. Super Bowl XXIII-San Francisco 49ers 20, Cincinnati Bengals 16

  8. Super Bowl LVIII-Kansas City Chiefs 25, San Francisco 49ers 22

  7. Super Bowl XXV-New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19

  6. Super Bowl XXXVIII-New England Patriots 32, Carolina Panthers 29

  5. Super Bowl XLII-New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14

  4. Super Bowl LI-New England Patriots 34, Atlanta Falcons 28
  3. Super Bowl XLIX-New England Patriots 28, Seattle Seahawks 24
  2. Super Bowl XLIII-Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23

  1. Super Bowl XIII-Pittsburgh Steelers 35, Dallas Cowboys 31

Minnesota Vikings General Manager Candidates

After the surprising firing of Kwesi Adofo-Menash hit the books, attention turned to who will be the next general manager of the Minnesota Vikings. It’s a bit early as team ownership said that the decision won’t be made until after the 2026 NFL Draft. Between now and then, Rob Brzezinski will oversee the personnel department. His title is Executive Vice President - Football Operations. His primary responsibility is the salary cap and negotiating contracts. He’s been with the Vikings since 1999 and has become one of the most respected and valued executives. As the interim general manager, I see his role as a unifier and a tie-breaker, if need be. I also see this new role as very much temporary. 

Many talking heads and fans have latched on to Rob Brzezinski as a serious candidate for the Vikings permanent GM job. Mark Wilf perhaps pushed those thoughts when he said that Brzezinski would be considered. I don’t see it. If Brzezinski truly wanted the Vikings general manager job, we would’ve heard about it by now. He’s been with the team since 1999. He probably would’ve been considered when Rick Spielman got the job. He definitely would’ve been considered when Kwesi Adofo-Mensah got the job. I believe that Brzezinski knows his strengths and where he’s needed. His strengths are with the salary cap and he’s very much needed there. He’s been brilliant. I don’t see him as the Vikings next general manager. 

If Rob Brzezinski is #1 on the candidate list of talking heads and fans, current Denver Broncos general manager George Paton is #2. It’s a fairly lazy take as Paton left the Vikings to take the top personnel job with the Broncos. So, just because he has a past with the Vikings means that he’s returning despite being under contract with the Broncos. If current GMs are candidates, why not Howie Roseman or John Schneider or Eric DeCosta? The only way the Vikings can add Paton is by giving draft picks for him. There’s no way that’s happening.

Who are “legitimate” candidates to be the Vikings next general manager? I’m certain of one thing. Vikings next general manager will not be an “analytics guy.” The next Vikings general manager will come with a history, hopefully long history, of scouting and personnel experience. Here are some of my favorite potential candidates.

Chad Alexander - Chargers Assistant General Manager 

John McKay - Rams Assistant General Manager 

Mike Bradway - Chiefs Assistant General Manager 

Will McClay - Cowboys VP of Player Personnel 

George Kokinis - Ravens VP of Player Personnel 

Ed Dobbs - Colts Assistant General Manager 

Terrance Gray - Bills Assistant General Manager 

Andy Weidl - Steelers Assistant General Manager 

Ray Agnew - Lions Assistant General Manager 

The Athletic’s Alec Lewis directed me to several more intriguing candidates:

Ryan Cowden - Patriots VP of Player Personnel 

Jeff King - Bears Senior Director of Player Personnel

Reed Burckhardt - Broncos Assistant General Manager 

Trey Brown - Bengals Assistant General Manager 

Trent Kirchner - Seahawks VP of Player Personnel 

Matt Berry - Seahawks VP of Player Acquisition

VP of Player Acquisition! Come on! What kind of title is that?

Anyway, that’s 15 candidates. That feels like a lot. The list in front of the Wilfs is probably longer. If I have to narrow the 15 to five, my top five, right now, probably looks like this.

Chad Alexander

Ed Dobbs

Ryan Cowden

Trey Brown

Trent Kirchner

In the rivalry of scouting vs analytics, I’ve always been, and always be, with the scouting side. I appreciate the inclusion of analytics into the process but I’ll never understand “scouting” from a spreadsheet. I look forward to the Vikings return to a “scouting” GM. I narrowed the candidate list to the above five for their scouting experience, the drafting of the teams that employed them, and a general feel or hunch. 

I know that the right general manager for the Vikings is out there. I hope they find that general manager. 

Minnesota Vikings Coaches

The Minnesota Vikings biggest coaching question of this offseason was whether defensive coordinator Brian Flores would be back. His return felt very much up in the air for a few weeks. His contract with the Vikings expired. He interviewed for the head coach vacancies of the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. He even interviewed for the defensive coordinator role with the Washington Commanders. It was a tense couple of weeks. Finally, he signed a new contract to remain in Minnesota. The contract reportedly makes him the highest paid assistant coach in the league. It’s very much deserved. He’s also very much deserving of a head coach opportunity. The stupidity of the rest of the league is the Vikings gain. Since December, five coaches have departed for opportunities/potential opportunities elsewhere. 

Safeties coach Michael Hutchings - left for Cal DC job

Assistant Head Coach Mike Pettine - retired

Offensive Line coach Chris Kuper - contract expired

Secondary/Pass Game Coordinator Daronte Jones - left for Washington Commanders DC job

Defensive Line coach Marcus Dixon - contract expired/hired as Dallas Cowboys DL coach

On Saturday, the Vikings announced the hiring of three coaches:

Frank Smith - Assistant Head Coach

Gerald Alexander - Secondary/Pass Game Coordinator

Ryan Nielsen - Defensive Line/Run Game Coordinator

The Vikings also announced the promotion of assistant offensive line coach Keith Carter to offensive line coach. 

Vikings-wise, Friday was a frustrating day. Saturday was a great day. I was thrilled with all three hires. My hope for the offensive line was a coach in the Kyle Shanahan/Mike McDaniel/Sean McVay/Matt LaFleur coaching pipeline. I’ve long envied the run games of those teams. The Vikings didn’t hire the offensive line coach from those systems. In Frank Smith, they hired Mike McDaniels offensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins. That works. Smith has an offensive line coaching background and, most importantly, brings an innovative run scheme. Kevin O’Connell needs some of that in his Vikings offense. Smith was a dream addition that I wasn’t sure could be had. As a productive offensive coordinator for four years, he was beyond the level of an offensive line coach. He was sure to move on to another offensive coordinator job or even a head coach opportunity. He did interview for the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator job. The Vikings made their way around that little issue by hiring him as assistant head coach. Gerald Alexander has been a dream Vikings coach since his 2017-19 run as Cal’s secondary coach. He’s an outstanding coach and outstanding replacement for Daronte Jones. As for the defensive line, I was hoping Marcus Dixon would return. Absent that, the Vikings hired an experienced and effective coach in Ryan Nielsen. He earned league-wide attention for his work with the New Orleans Saints defensive line under Sean Payton. That work put him on the Vikings radar and he interviewed for the defensive coordinator job that went to Brian Flores. Now, he’s working with Flores. Frank Smith is a great addition to the Vikings offense. Gerald Alexander and Ryan Nielsen are great additions to the defense. 

The Vikings likely aren’t done adding to the coaching staff. Assistants are needed on the offensive line and in the secondary. Those are two of the largest position groups on the team. The staff could also be further raided by teams with new head coaches. For now, here is the current coaching staff of the Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Kevin O’Connell

Assistant Head Coach/Outside Linebackers: Frank Smith

Offensive Coordinator: Wes Phillips

Defensive Coordinator: Brian Flores

Special Teams Coordinator: Matt Daniels

Offense:

Quarterbacks: Josh McCown

Assistant Offensive Coordinator/Assistant Quarterbacks: Jordan Traylor

Senior Offensive Assistant: Chris O’Hara

Running Backs/Run Game Coordinator: Curtis Modkins

Receivers: Keenan McCardell

Assistant Receivers: Tony Sorrentino

Tight Ends/Pass Game Coodinator: Brian Angelichio

Offensive Line: Keith Carter

Assistant Offensive Line: ?

Pass Game Specialist/Game Management Coordinator: Ryan Cordell

Quality Control: Derron Montgomery

Offensive Assistant: Ben Ellefson

Assistant to the Head Coach: Henry Schneider IV

Defense:

Defensive Line/Run Game Coordinator: Ryan Nielsen

Assistant Defensive Line: Imarjae Albury Sr.

Outside Linebackers: Thad Bogardus

Assistant Outside Linebackers: Patrick Hill

Inside Linebackers: Mike Siravo 

Defensive Backs/Pass Game Coordinator: Gerald Alexander

Defensive Backs Assistant: ?

Defensive Quality Control: Chenzo Funari

Defensive Assistant: Charlie Frye

Special Teams:

Assistant Special Teams: Dalmin Gibson

NFL Head Coach Churn Ends

It appears that the NFL’s Annual Head Coach Churn has come to an end. A week from the Super Bowl, the final two head coach vacancies were filled. The Las Vegas Raiders reportedly plan to hire Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak following his team’s Super Bowl obligations. The Arizona Cardinals announced the hiring of Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. So, the league has 10 new head coaches. Well, some are old coaches in new places. 

New York Giants: John Harbaugh

Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy

Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken

Buffalo Bills: Joe Brady

Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak

Arizona Cardinals: Mike LaFleur

All but John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, Robert Saleh, and Mike McCarthy are first-time NFL head coaches. Jeff Hafley had a four-year run as the head coach at Boston College. Todd Monken was the head coach at Southern Mississippi for a couple years. Jesse Minter, Joe Brady, Klint Kubiak, and Mike LaFleur will be running a team for the first time. 

It’s easy to single out Jesse Minter and Joe Brady as the coaches in the best situation to immediately succeed. Success in the NFL starts with the quarterback and the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills have an elite quarterback in Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, respectively. The Ravens are only two years removed from an AFC Championship appearance. The Bills are only a year removed from an AFC Championship appearance. Minter’s Ravens and Brady’s Bills will enter the 2026 season as serious AFC contenders.

Here’s a Flea Flicker ranking of the 10 head coach hires.

1.   Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

2.   New York Giants: John Harbaugh

3.   Las Vegas Raiders: Klint Kubiak

4.   Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

5.   Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

6.   Buffalo Bills: Joe Brady

7.   Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

8.   Cleveland Browns: Todd Monken

9.   Arizona Cardinals: Mike LaFleur

10. Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike McCarthy

Robert Saleh selection of Brian Dabol as his offensive coordinator bumped him up a couple spots. Saleh and Dabol are an intriguing defense-offense pairing. 

On the diversity front, this was a disappointing coaching churn. Robert Saleh is the only minority of the 10 new head coaches. All 10 teams were idiots for not hiring Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. It’s even worse that only two teams even interviewed him. The snowy white complexion of the new head coaches shouldn’t be a surprise. The focus is so often on offensive coaches in these searches. There were zero black offensive coordinators in the league last year. The Kansas City Chiefs bringing back Eric Bieniemy gives the league one black offensive coordinator, so far, for the 2026 season. Black defensive coordinators Brian Flores, Vance Joseph, Anthony Weaver, and Ejiro Evero received token attention in this year’s head coach searches. While Evero was reportedly a finalist for the Las Vegas Raiders job, teams might’ve brought in those four coaches simply for Rooney Rule requirements. The continued shunning of Flores is a great thing for the Vikings but he deserves another head coach opportunity. The lack of diversity among the NFL’s 32 head coaches appears to be a problem without end. There are few black offensive coaches in the pipeline. Promising young coaches Nate Scheelhasse, Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator, and Jerrod Johnson, Houston Texans quarterback coach, could change that narrative in the coming years. Scheelhasse received some head coach attention. Johnson received some offensive coordinator attention. The presence of only two promising black coaches near the top of the offensive coaching pipeline is ludicrous. It must be tough to enter a pipeline with few opportunities available at the top of it. 

Congratulations and best of luck to the 10 new head coaches. 

Minnesota Vikings Coach Additions

On Friday, the Minnesota Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. It wasn’t a great day. Firing a major player in the team-building architecture isn’t a good thing. As far as the league’s news cycle is concerned, it’s tough to follow that. Well, the Vikings followed a difficult day with a great day. At least, I see it as a great day. 

Every offseason brings a coaching churn within each of the NFL’s 32 teams. It’s an overhaul for the team’s that are bringing in a new head coach. It’s mostly coaching staff tweaks for the rest of the teams. The Vikings will be looking for a new general manager. They are set at head coach with Kevin O’Connell. As far as his coaching staff is concerned, the first and biggest question of the offseason was whether defensive coordinator Brian Flores was coming back. He’s deserving of a head coach opportunity. Of the 10 head coach vacancies this offseason, only the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers even interviewed him. Both teams hired other coaches. There’s a lot of stupidity across the league. Thankfully, that stupidity brought Flores back to Minnesota with a new contract. His return meant that Vikings secondary coach/pass game coordinator Daronte Jones was departing. He’s deserving of a coordinator opportunity. He found that opportunity with the Washington Commanders. The Vikings had already lost safeties coach Michael Hutchings to a defensive coordinator opportunity with Cal. The Vikings offensive line coach of the past four seasons, Chris Kuper didn’t have his contract renewed. A decade of offensive line issues continued under Kuper’s four-year watch. As a result, his departure wasn’t a surprise. The departure of Marcus Dixon under similar circumstances (expiring contract) might’ve been a surprise. His two-year run as the defensive line coach saw considerable improvement from his players. I believe that he was a coach the Vikings would’ve liked to keep. It appears that he has other plans. 

So, the Vikings had to find replacements for Chris Kuper, Daronte Jones, and Marcus Dixon. Since I expected the need for an offensive line coach and a defensive backs coach, I had a wish list. 

Frank Smith - offensive line 

Gerald Alexander - defensive backs

For offensive line, I hoped for a coach from the trees of some of the innovative run game coaches in the league. Specifically, I hoed for a coach that’s worked with Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, Mike McDaniel, Sean McVay, etc. Frank Smith has been Mike McDaniel’s offensive coordinator since 2022. Prior to being the Miami Dolphins head coach, McDaniel was the run game schemster of Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers. My biggest concern with the Vikings possibly hiring Smith was whether he’d “settle” for an offensive line coaching role. He’s more at the level of offensive coordinator or head coach. He interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator position that just went to Sean Mannion. Perhaps that missed opportunity opened an opportunity with the Vikings. I’ve been a big fan of Gerald Alexander since his three-year run (2017-19) as Cal’s secondary coach. That run in Berkeley ended when Brian Flores, as the head coach in Miami, hired him as the Dolphins secondary coach. My personal witness of his terrific work at Cal and Flores’ connection with him made Alexander an easy coach for me to target. Alexander is an excellent football coach. As for the defensive line coach, I simply hoped that Marcus Dixon would return. 

After a rough Friday, the Vikings announced some coaching hires on Saturday. It was a great Saturday.

Frank Smith - Assistant Head Coach

Gerald Alexander - Defensive Backs Coach/Pass Game Coordinator

Ryan Nielsen - Defensive Line coach/Run Game Coordinator

The Vikings also announced that assistant offensive line coach Keith Carter was promoted to offensive line coach. He’s been the offensive line coach of the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets. He has the experience and is deserving of this role. The best thing about the Vikings offensive coach changes is the addition of Frank Smith and his run game schemes. Kevin O’Connell is terrific with the pass game. He needed some help with the run game. Smith will provide that help. The Vikings offense got better with these coaching changes. Gerald Alexander is an outstanding addition to the defensive coaching staff. At the start of this offseason, I had two coaching wishes. Most importantly, I wanted Brian Flores to stay. He deserves a head coach opportunity. Selfishly, I want him as the Vikings defensive coordinator for eternity. Secondly, I wanted the Vikings to hire Gerald Alexander. The unfortunate thing about his addition is that it would probably have to come with the loss of Daronte Jones. It did. The surprise of yesterday’s coaching news was the hiring of Ryan Nielsen. Since I hoped that Marcus Dixon would return, I didn’t really think about potential defensive line coaches. I’m not sure that Viking could’ve done better than Ryan Nielsen. He interviewed for the Vikings defensive coordinator job in 2023. Flores got the job in Minnesota but Nielsen got the defensive coordinator job with the Atlanta Falcons. He has terrific experience and results as a defensive coach, and specifically defensive line coach. 

The Minnesota Vikings roster of coaches might seem complete but I’m not sure that it is. I expect them to add an assistant defensive backs coach/safeties coach. I also expect the addition of an assistant offensive line coach. 

After a rough Friday, Saturday was kinda nice. Viking-wise.