When offensive line coach Chris Kuper’s contract wasn’t renewed after the season, the Vikings promoted assistant offensive line coach Keith Carter to the top job at the position. Carter had far more experience leading the offensive line than most assistant offensive line coaches, so his promotion wasn’t much of a surprise. Some have questioned the move as Carter has had a contentious history with some of his players. Head coach Kevin O’Connell and the rest of the team saw him on the field and in the building last season and are apparently confident in the promotion. Besides, Brian Flores had a very contentious history with at least one of his very vocal players. With Carter’s promotion, the Vikings needed an assistant offensive line coach. They found their coach in college.
Derek Warehime - Kentucky Run Game Coordinator
Derek Warehime was hired at Kentucky in December so he never coached a game for the Wildcats. He was the offensive line coach/run game coordinator at Coastal Carolina from 2023-25. The Chanticleers did some interesting things in the run game. I’m intrigued by the possibilities his addition brings. So often, NFL teams fill out their coaching rosters with familiar NFL coaches. I like it when teams bring in a coach, or two, or more, from the colleges. From the wider hash-marks to talent disparity, college football is very different than NFL football. Incorporating some of the things done by talented college coaches into an NFL team can be a good thing. In total, Warehime has about 20 years of coaching college football.
The Vikings best coaching move of the offseason was keeping Brian Flores in Minnesota. The next best was the hiring of Frank Smith as assistant head coach. I’ve often wished that the Vikings would incorporate some of the spicy run schemes and plays that routinely see from other teams. Those schemes and teams all come from coaches in the Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay coaching trees. The Vikings and Kevin O’Connell need some of that. The Vikings run game always looks so routine. Mike McDaniel got the Miami Dolphins head coach in 2022 for the run game he created with Kyle Shanahan for the San Francisco 49ers. Frank Smith was McDaniel’s offensive coordinator in Miami. When Chris Kuper departed, Frank Smith was my first choice to replace him. My worry was that Smith was more on the level offensive coordinator or even an under-the-radar head coach candidate. He’d long moved past the offensive line coach level. So, the Vikings hired him as assistant head coach. I like the addition of new offensive ideas with the coaching additions of Frank Smith and Derek Warehime.
With the Pittsburgh Steelers swiping tight end coach/pass game coordinator Brian Angelichio, the Vikings needed a new tight end coach. As with the offensive line, the new coach was found within the building. Ryan Cordell has been with the Vikings since Kevin O’Connell was hired in 2022. He’s had the curious title of game management coordinator/pass game specialist. One of his tasks was holding weekly “situational master” presentations for the team. Based on film and game research, he’d address potential situations the team might face in future games. He also assisted Angelichio with the tight ends. Now, the position is his too coach. He’ll also retain his role as game management coordinator. It appears the “situational master” presentations will continue. O’Connell has often mentioned how impactful those meetings have been.
The Vikings added a coach from the college ranks. They also lost one to the college ranks. For six years Imarjaye Albury Sr. has been a rising coach for the Vikings. From quality control to defensive assistant to assistant defensive line coach his trajectory has been a consistently upwards one. So much so that I imagine he might’ve been disappointed that he wasn’t tapped to replace Marcus Dixon as the team’s defensive line coach. The Vikings hired the extremely experienced Ryan Nielsen as defensive line/run game coordinator. Yesterday, Albury announced that he was headed to Texas Tech as the Red Raiders defensive line coach. It’s a great and much deserved opportunity. While I’m thrilled with the addition of Nielsen, I hate to see Albury leave.
Summation of the recent Vikings coaching tweaks:
Promoted: Ryan Cordell - tight ends/game management coordinator
Added: Derek Warehime - assistant offensive line coach
Lost: Imarjaye Albury Sr. - swiped by Texas Tech
Hopefully, the Vikings aren’t further raided by the 31 parasitic teams in the league. Or the 100s of college football teams.
For now, here is the current coaching staff of the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Kevin O’Connell
Assistant Head Coach: 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: ?
Tight Ends/Game Management Coordinator: Ryan Cordell
Offensive Line: Keith Carter
Assistant Offensive Line: Derek Warehime
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: ?
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
I see the Vikings needing the following coaches:
Assistant receivers
Assistant defensive line
Assistant defensive back
Those are three of the biggest position groups. Keenan McCardell, Ryan Nielsen, and Gerald Alexander could each use an assistant. There also remains a coaching roster curiosity. The Vikings website lists Nielsen as only the defensive run game coordinator. I’ve assumed, and many seem to assume, that he’s also coaching the defensive line. He has a strong history in that role. It’s what got him a couple defensive coordinator jobs. He even interviewed for the Vikings job that went to Brian Flores. If the website is accurate, there might still be a need for a defensive line coach that works with Nielsen. It also remains to be seen if the Vikings give a coach the pass game coordinator title that was held by Brian Angelichio. My guess is that McCardell gets the title.
Until the next tweak.
No comments:
Post a Comment