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With all the excitement of the Mike Zimmer hire, he's still ony one guy. One awesome fu$%*# guy, but a guy nontheless. He'll still need to assemble a coaching staff, to include offensive and defensive coordinator.
To say Vikings fans were unhappy with Bill Musgrave and Alan Williams would be an insult to unhappy people everywhere, and the thought of new coordinators is almost as enticing as getting a guy that likes the f-bomb almost as much as he likes breathing. So, who are the popular names that are being bandied about for the two coordinator jobs?
Let's start with defensive coordinator first. It seemed like Paul Guenther was a name that a lot of people were attaching to Zimmer if he came to Minnesota. Guenther is the Bengals LB coach, and he was offered the Cincinnati defensive coordinator position if/when Zimmer left. When Zimmer was hired by the Vikings, there was a general air of confusion as to whether or not he could even make the move or if the Vikings could interview him:
#Bengals can't block Guenther from leaving to take the #Vikings DC job, per source.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) January 15, 2014
But that's all water under the bridge now. Guenther accepted the defensive coordinator position with the Bengals and will not be coming to Minnesota:
Paul Guenther is remaining with the Bengals as the D Coordinator
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) January 15, 2014
To be honest, I haven't really heard of any other names for defensive coordinators, much less other position coaches. As we hear, we'll let you know.
For offensive coordinator, Adam Schefter just tweeted that the Vikings have asked for and received permission from Cleveland to interview Norv Turner:
Vikings have requested and received permission to interview Browns OC Norv Turner for Minnesota OC job, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 15, 2014
Like I've said more than once, Turner isn't my number one choice (former OC and Rams head coach Scott Linehan is), but Turner has an almost impeccable record as a coordinator. Not so much as a head coach, granted, but having an experienced offensive mind who also has extensive head coaching experience isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The Zimmer hire is being universally praised by fans and NFL experts alike, and most people seem very encouraged by the possibility of Turner as offensive coordinator. And regardless of what your opinion is of Turner, there's no question he would be an upgrade over Musgrave, so we've got that going for us, which is nice.
So, Vikings fans, what are your thoughts on Norv Turner as a possible offensive coordinator for the Vikings?