Vikings Coaches

I've been thinking about the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff. For a team that replaced it's offensive and defensive coordinators there's a remarkable feeling of consistency. Kevin Stefanski was the team's offensive coordinator for a season and three games. He's the head coach in Cleveland now. George Edwards had been the only defensive coordinator in Mike Zimmer's six seasons as the Vikings' head coach. Edwards is a Senior Defensive Assistant in Dallas now. Gary Kubiak, and his gang of three coaches, arrived in Minnesota last offseason to assist Stefanski in his first full season running an NFL offense. The most difficult part of Kubiak accepting the offensive coordinator duties was deciding whether he really wanted to dive that deeply into coaching again. Once he made that decision, a smooth transition was insured. Some Vikings beat writers even speculated that Kubiak was calling the shots last season and Stefanski was merely along for the ride. Some Vikings beat writers like manufacturing drama. Whatever was the case, the offensive transition from departed coordinator to new coordinator will be a smooth one in Minnesota. Same scheme, same terminology, mostly the same personnel. The only change on the offensive side of the ball will be the voice calling the plays. The transition on defense should be equally smooth. After all, the Vikings defense is Zimmer's defense. He tapped defensive line coach Andre Patterson and linebacker coach Adam Zimmer to be co-defensive coordinators. I like the co-defensive coordinator deal for the simple reason that it allows both Patterson and Zimmer to continue as position coaches. Patterson has done a phenomenal job of developing players along the defensive line. I'd hate to see defensive coordinator duties pull him away from the position that he coaches so well.

When an NFL team replaces it's offensive and defensive coordinators in a single offseason it often means extensive change. It certainly means a significant transition. The only change and transition in Minnesota is the names on the respective coordinator offices.

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: Imarjaye Albury
Assistant Defensive Backs: Roy Anderson
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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On offense, other than Kubiak moving from an offensive advisory role to offensive coordinator, Andrew Janocko moves from assistant offensive line coach to receivers coach and Phil Rauscher was hired to assist Rick Dennison with the offensive line. Janocko's five years with the Vikings draws comparisons to the start of Kevin Stefanski's coaching career. Both started as quality control coaches and then quietly started moving to various offensive position coaching roles. There's nothing unique to this career path. It's how nearly all coaches move through and up the football coaching ranks. There's just something about Janocko that reminds me of Stefanski. He just has to work on that beard. Stefanski's beard is magnificent. Rauscher has more coaching experience than most assistant offensive line coaches. Most of that experience was with Kubiak and Dennison in Denver. Rauscher also coached with Bill Callahan in Washington. Any coaching time spent with Callahan is a very good thing as he's one of the best offensive line coaches at any level of football.

There was more change among the defensive coaches. That's mostly due to the defensive backs coaches being entirely different. Jerry Gray is gone after being Zimmer's only defensive backs coach. For some reason, he's in Green Bay now. Assistant defensive backs coach Jeff Howard followed Stefanski to Cleveland. From the coaches to the cornerbacks there are significant defensive backfield changes in Minnesota. Daronte Jones and Roy Anderson replace Gray and Howard. A host of young corners are set to replace a trio of departed veterans. With the way that the group played last season it feels like a shakeup could be a good thing. I'm intrigued by the talent and potential of the group. I'm intrigued by the players as well as the coaches. Both Jones and Anderson have extensive and respected experience. Anderson has a ridiculous amount of experience for a coach with "assistant" at the front of his title. Another change on defense was needed when assistant defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez accepted a coaching position on Herm Edwards' staff at Arizona State. Rodriguez had progressed so well under the mentoring of Andre Patterson that it felt like his time with the Vikings was going to be coming to an end soon. That end came this offseason. Imarjaye Albury was brought in from Arkansas to replace Rodriguez. Without having coached a real practice or a game for the Vikings, Albury has already made an impact on his new team. He coached emerging defensive tackle Armon Watts at Arkansas. Nose tackle Michael Pierce mentioned his friendship with Albury as one of the reasons he chose to sign with the Vikings this offseason. So, it might be because of their new assistant defensive line coach that the Vikings have their new defensive tackle combo. The most curious defensive coaching addition is Dom Capers. It's hoped that his addition will impact the defense like Kubiak's addition impacted the offense last year. Capers has been coaching top-notch NFL defenses for decades. I'm sure that he can come up with something new, different, and perhaps devastating that Zimmer can throw at opposing offenses.

I can't wait to see these Vikings coaches on an Eagan football field. I find it fascinating that there's been some significant changes and yet so little has changed. It's going to be a strange and challenging training camp. I believe that this group of young and old coaches will be up to the challenges that they will face.