Vikings Hire 2 New Coaches

Vikings
Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, after a 20-17 win over the Washington Commanders in Week 9 of the 2022 regular season.

When the Minnesota Vikings fired Ed Donatell from his defensive coordinator duties after the disappointing season finale in the postseason against the Giants, it was only the first of many coaching changes for the purple team.

A handful of 2022 coaches left the team, and a few more had interviews for different positions but stayed with the organization. Brian Flores was named the new defensive coordinator and has to fill some vacancies on his staff.

Vikings Hire 2 New Coaches

Vikings Hire 2 New Coaches
Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

The Vikings announced the hiring of Mike Siravo as the new inside linebackers coach. He will take over the position of former NFL defensive coordinator Greg Manusky who took the same job in Denver on Sean Payton’s staff.

Siravo was recently the defensive run game coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. It was his first NFL job after spending two decades in various college programs in different positions. He followed former Panthers head coach Matt Rhule from Temple to Baylor and then to the pros.

From 1998 to 2000, Siravo was a graduate assistant for Boston College when Flores played linebacker for the same school. He is an experienced linebackers coach, as he held the position in Columbia, Temple, Baylor, and with the Panthers for almost two decades.

Siravo will now work with 2022 rookie linebacker Brian Asamoah. The next few weeks will decide if the veterans Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks will be on the team or if the Vikings part ways with the pair of linebackers.

Brian Flores Name Drops
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports.

Lance Bennett will join Kevin O’Connell’s staff on the defensive side of the ball as defensive quality control coach. Bennett was an assistant on Flores’ staff when he was head coach in Miami, but they go back a long way. The two coaches played together in high school in Brooklyn, New York.

Bennett played running back and wideout for the Indiana Hoosiers from 2003 to 2006 after graduating from Polytechnic Prep Country Day School.

The new Vikings coach coached at Poly Prep for five seasons as offensive coordinator and head of strength and speed training before joining Mater Dei Prep in New Jersey.

The Vikings also announced that they had moved Grant Udinski from assistant to the head coach and special projects to assistant quarterbacks coach.

Over the last month, the Vikings lost a handful of coaches. Former Vikings assistant special teams coach Ben Kotwica took the same route as Manusky and became the Broncos’ special teams coordinator. Former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell is still without a job.

Texans Steal Promising
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports.

2022 Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson joined the Texans and new head coach Demeco Ryans as the new quarterback’s coach, possibly with a top rookie draft pick.

Assistant defensive line coach A’lique Terry joined his alma mater Oregon as offensive line coach.

Expect more moves on the coaching staff to happen in the upcoming weeks and many moves on the roster. The Vikings are roughly $24 million over the salary cap and have until March 15 to fix that, when the new league year begins. Free agency will start on March 13, while the draft will begin on April 27.


Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt

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