Brad Rempel - USA TODAY Sports
The Minnesota Vikings have made their decision for their play caller for 2019. Fans were worried because the team was looking at names that haven’t had much success in recent years. Some names being mentioned were Dirk Koetter, Mike Mularkey, and Hue Jackson. Koetter’s offense hasn’t been known for running the ball all that well, Mularkey’s offense couldn’t do anything well but run the ball, and Hue Jackson was in charge of the 0-16 fiasco in Cleveland. Well, the Vikings announced today that Kevin Stefanski will be returning to the team in 2019 to be the offensive coordinator.
Stefanski is what everyone is looking for these days. A young, offensive mind to call a creative offense and scheme guys open. Stefanski hasn’t called plays in the NFL for three games. But, of the three games he called, two of them were blowout wins. Stefanski was using his players the way they need to be used. Dalvin Cook isn’t meant to run straight up the middle, so Stefanski didn’t try to use him that way. Kirk Cousins is much better under center than he is from the shotgun, so Stefanski put him under center more. Stefanski will now get a full offseason to implement his system with this team, and he knows this team as well as anyone in the building. Stefanski has been here for 12 years. Stefanski’s biggest job will be to find a way to beat the Bears’ elite defense, and get the Vikings back atop the NFC North.
Overall, Vikings fans should be excited about the hiring of long-term coach Kevin Stefanski as the offensive coordinator. Stefanski knows this building, and the players in it. He was Cousins’ quarterbacks coach for most of this past season. He has coached wide receivers and tight ends as well. Stefanski could bring an exciting spark to the Vikings 2019 offense, but first we have to fix some issues through the draft.
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From your lips to God's ears. I would have been happy with Hue Jackson and could have seen the logic in Zimmer promoting a previous "Hot!" young coach, Offensive Assistant Todd Downing, to his second shot as an OC, but Stefanski works for me, too.
Here's to finding a replacement for Latavius Murray who better fits the roles of a RB2 behind Cook, a better option than Laquon Treadwell or Aldrick Robinson at WR3 (Robinson vs. Beebe vs. Zylstra vs. Badet for WR4 and WR5 works for me), a down-the-field option to pair with Rudolph, a new OL coach and A BETTER OFFENSIVE LINE for our new, non-interim offensive coordinator!