Just when it felt like the Minnesota Vikings 2020 coaching staff was complete, head coach Mike Zimmer decided that he needed another voice/teacher/opinion in the room. The Vikings announced yesterday that Dom Capers has been hired. Zimmer has been in the football coaching profession since 1979. Capers has been at it even longer. He got his start as a graduate assistant at Kent State in 1972. Zimmer was thrilled with the coaching impact that Gary Kubiak had last season as an adviser on the offensive side of the ball. Perhaps he's hoping that Capers can provide a similar impact this season on the defensive side of the ball. Some seem to be surprised by the choice as each advocates two different defensive philosophies. Zimmer has coached a 4-3 defense for most of his coaching career. Capers has favored a 3-4 defense. It's my guess that Capers was appealing to Zimmer because of those differences. Football offenses are always evolving. Defenses have to evolve as well. No defensive coach can expect to succeed if they just keep trotting out the same defense year after year. While still being mostly effective, the Vikings defense has remained the same since Zimmer's first year in 2014. Same players, same scheme, same voices. Perhaps things had grown a little stale. Change can be good and in the last month there has been a lot of changes on the coaching staff. That's especially true on defense. Adding Capers is the most intriguing move of all. Perhaps the Vikings will throw an occasional 3-4 front at offenses. They don't really have the personnel to do it as their base but I can envision a situational front that includes Linval Joseph over the center, Jalyn Holmes and Armon Watts at ends, and Danielle Hunter and Anthony Barr rushing off the edge. Who knows? Hercules Mata'afa is a unique pass rusher that the team seems to like but they haven't really found a role for him. Perhaps Capers has some ideas. It's always good for a defense on occasion to do something unexpected. Throwing something new at an offense is good and anything Capers adds will be new. I always liked the "amoeba" defense that he ran at times as the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. The New England Patriots used something similar a couple years ago and the Vikings offense fell apart against it. Having seven, or more, players milling about the line of scrimmage before the snap doesn't give the offense any clues. The offense doesn't know which players are rushing and which players aren't until the snap. I didn't like when Capers, or Bill Belichick, did against the Vikings but I'd be thrilled to see Zimmer and Capers incorporate it into the defensive game plan. Capers has been a successful defensive coach longer than Zimmer. I think that it's safe to assume that Zimmer, Capers, new co-defensive coordinators Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer, and the rest of the defensive coaches will come up with some unique defenses. I can't wait to see it.
I can see only one negative to the addition of Dom Capers. The ESPN Vikings beat writers spent all of last offseason questioning what Gary Kubiak did. Kevin Stefanski was the offensive coordinator. What was Kubiak's role? The possibility that he was there to assist ("assistant" was in his official title) Stefanski during his first year coordinating an offense simply eluded them. Those Kubiak questions were a part of damn near every article and podcast they wrote and recorded. It was a sad little bit and got old really quick. I dread the possibility that they pull it out again this offseason in questioning Capers' role with the defense. He's a senior defensive assistant coach. He'll assist the defense. Some of the Vikings beat writers just want to turn everything into some damn conspiracy. Maybe, just maybe, these coaching hires are made to try and improve the football team. Imagine that, a football team trying to get better.
Adding Capers wasn't the only change to the Vikings coaching staff. Assistant defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez left to become the defensive line coach on Herm Edwards' staff at Arizona State. It's a loss for the Vikings but a great opportunity for Rodriguez. Congratulations Coach Rodriguez.
Maybe the Vikings coaching staff isn't complete. I would think that a coach will be added to assist Andre Patterson with the defensive line. Especially, with his new co-defensive coordinator duties. Here's how the Vikings coaching staff looks until the next change.
Minnesota Vikings 2020 Coaches
Head Coach: Mike Zimmer
Offensive Coaches:
Offensive Coordinator: Gary Kubiak
Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator: Rick Dennison
Quarterbacks: Klint Kubiak
Running Backs: Kennedy Polamalu
Wide Receivers: Andrew Janocko
Tight Ends: Brian Pariani
Assistant Offensive Line: Phil Rauscher
Offensive Quality Control: Christian Jones
Offensive Quality Control: AC Patterson
Defensive Coaches:
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line: Andre Patterson
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers: Adam Zimmer
Senior Defensive Assistant: Dom Capers
Defensive Backs: Daronte Jones
Assistant Defensive Line: Robert Rodriguez
Defensive Quality Control: Nick Rallis
Special Teams Coaches:
Special Teams Coordinator: Marwan Maalouf
Assistant Special Teams: Ryan Ficken
Kicking Consultant: Nate Kaeding
Strength and Conditioning:
Head Strength and Conditioning: Mark Uyeyama
Assistant Strength and Conditioning: Derik Keyes
Assistant Strength and Conditioning: Chaz Mahle
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