Views from the 612: Vikings made right move retaining Stefanski

There may have or may have not been fans worried about the Vikings potential vacant offensive coordinator position that was looming.

I’ll be honest and say I was one who was worried about the issue. However, I can say now that I’m happy with the end result. Kevin Stefanski’s interim tag is removed and he’s now the fourth O.C. since head coach Mike Zimmer has taken the helms, and thankfully there won’t be a fifth... Yet.

I get that it’s tough to hold onto assistants and coordinators who thrive in the given position, but a team needs consistency, a team needs structure. It’s hard to have consistency and build structure when a team is just cycling through coaches like a hamster on its little wheel. Not to mention new coaches who like to change schemes up that result in a lot of new learning.

Things were clicking when Pat Shurmur was calling the shots on offense. Unfortunately for Minnesota, Shurmur was offered the head coaching position with the New York Giants.

Shurmur’s predecessor Norv Turner was the OC since Zimmer became the head coach in 2014. It was about halfway through the season in 2016 when Turner stepped down after the team started the year 5-2.

Stefanski will now be in the same shoes Shurmur was. We all know what happened that next year when Shurmur got a whole season to showcase his talents as an OC. Only an optimistic Vikings fan would say it could happen again. Yeah, I’m that guy.

Also, if Stefanski does have a successful season next year, then that may be a hint that the Vikings should just continue to promote within the organization instead of hiring outside parties. An idea all teams should look at doing more of. It’s also a reason to think ahead past the 2019 season.

Let’s say Stefanski does a solid job at OC and ends up getting a head coaching job. The Vikings should hire within, and maybe that’s why former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin is in the mix as a potential offensive line coach for Minnesota.

The Vikings need to create a formula that results in consistency. Not grabbing the best person on the market and think he’s going to get the job done, like John DeFilippo.

I’ll be honest I thought he was the man who could continue the high-octane offense that everyone saw when Shurmur was OC. Hopefully Stefanski can just pick up where Shurmur left off two years ago. Let’s say the 2018 season didn’t really happen, deal? Let’s call it the ‘transition’ year, and hope it was really a ‘transition’ year.