Yes, ladies and gentlemen. . .Vikings' special teams coach Paul Ferraro has been given a promotion, as hard as that is to believe.
The good news? Said promotion means that he's leaving Minnesota.
Yes, according to the good folks at Access Vikings, Ferraro has accepted an offer from Steve Spagnuolo, newly-hired head coach of the St. Louis Rams, to join the team as their linebackers coach.
Ferraro has a long coaching history, having coached at the college level for 23 years prior to joining the Carolina Panthers as a strength/conditioning coach in 2005, and then moving to Minnesota as the special teams coach for the past three seasons. However, this past season with the Vikings, he oversaw a special teams unit that was nothing short of a complete disaster.
How bad were the Vikings' special teams in 2008? If you take away the seven touchdowns that the return units allowed. . .a mark that set a new NFL record for futility, by the way. . .the Vikings defense goes from 20.8 points/game allowed (13th in the NFL) to 18.2 points a game, which would be good for 5th in the league. It's amazing how much bad special teams can cast a defense in a negative light, isn't it?
So au revoir, Paul Ferraro. . .and I certainly hope that you do a much better job with the Rams' linebacking corps than you did with the Minnesota special teams.