Minnesota Vikings Coaching Staff Tracker

With the Super Bowl nearly upon us, the Minnesota Vikings will be able to start making some of their coaching hires official. We want everyone to know who’s who on the new coaching staff, so we’ll be tracking all of the stories for you right here and slotting people into the proper places. We’ll keep this updated as new names are added. The listing is based on what the Vikings currently have on the coaches section of their website.

Head Coach

• Mike Zimmer ——> Kevin O’Connell

Offense

• Offensive Coordinator: Klint Kubiak ——> Wes Phillips
• Quarterbacks: Andrew Janocko ——> Chris O’Hara
• Running Backs: Kennedy Polamalu ——> Curtis Modkins
• Wide Receivers: Keenan McCardell (retained from previous staff)
• Tight Ends: Brian Pariani ——> Brian Angelichio
• Offensive Line: Phil Rauscher ——> Chris Kuper
• Assistant Offensive Line: Ben Steele ——> Justin Rascati

Defense

• Defensive Coordinator: Andre Patterson/Adam Zimmer ——> Ed Donatell
• Defensive Line: Andre Patterson ——> Chris Rumph
• Outside Linebackers: Adam Zimmer ——> Mike Smith
• Linebackers: Adam Zimmer ——>
• Defensive Backs: Karl Scott ——> Deshea Townsend Daronte Edwards
• Senior Defensive Assistant: Paul Guenther ——> Mike Pettine

Special Teams

• Special Teams Coordinator: Ryan Ficken ——> Matt Daniels
• Assistant Special Teams Coordinator: Ben Kotwica

Coaching Moves

• On 2 February, the Vikings decided that current Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell would be the tenth head coach in team history.
• O’Connell will be officially introduced as the Vikings’ new head coach on Thursday, 17 February.
• The day after the team made that decision, the Vikings lost three members of the previous coaching staff to new teams. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak agreed to be the passing game coordinator for the Denver Broncos, quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko moved on to the same job with the Chicago Bears, and special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken agreed to become the special teams coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers.
• When they’re able to start making hires official, the Vikings are expected to make former Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell their new defensive coordinator.
• Long-time defensive line coach Andre Patterson, who was also the team’s co-defensive coordinator for the past two seasons, has left to join the New York Giants as their defensive line coach.
• The Vikings also appear to know who they want as their offensive line coach, as they will reportedly hire current Denver Broncos assistant offensive line coach Chris Kuper to serve in that capacity under O’Connell.
• Keenan McCardell, who played a big role in the development of the team’s wide receivers this past season, will reportedly be retained as the wide receivers coach by Kevin O’Connell.
• Two more coaches came into the fold on Friday, as the Vikings tabbed Curtis Modkins to coach the team’s running backs and former NFL cornerback Deshea Townsend to coach the secondary.
• As it turns out, Deshea Townsend will not be the Vikings’ defensive backs coach after all, as he’s now heading to Jacksonville instead.
• The Vikings will reportedly be adding former Cleveland Browns’ head coach and Green Bay Packers’ (among others) defensive coordinator Mike Pettine to the new coaching staff in some capacity, likely as a senior defensive assistant.
• It appears that the tight ends under Kevin O’Connell will be coached by Brian Angelichio, who comes over from the same position with the Carolina Panthers. Angelichio will also have the title of passing game coordinator.
• The Vikings will reportedly be interviewing current Los Angeles Rams’ running backs coach Thomas Brown for the offensive coordinator’s job under O’Connell.
• The Vikings have also interviewed Los Angeles Chargers’ wide receivers coach Chris Beatty about the offensive coordinator position.
• Aaron Wilson of the Pro Football Network is reporting that the Vikings appear to be on the verge of hiring Los Angeles Rams’ tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Wes Phillips to be their new offensive coordinator.
• The Vikings officially hired former Dallas Cowboys’ assistant special teams coordinator Matt Daniels to be their special teams coordinator on Monday, 21 February.
• Along with announcing the signings of Wes Phillips and Matt Daniels, the Vikings also added three other coaches in Daronte Edwards (defensive backs), Mike Smith (outside linebackers), and Ben Kotwica (assistant special teams).

That’s what we’ve got for you as of now, folks. Again, as we get news of more hirings, we’ll have it here for you as soon as we can.