Inside The Vikings

Vikings Adding Mike Pettine, Jerrod Johnson to Kevin O'Connell's Coaching Staff

Everything you need to know about the two latest hires for the Vikings' 2022 coaching staff.

Will Ragatz

The Minnesota Vikings and incoming head coach Kevin O'Connell — fresh off a Super Bowl victory in his final game as the Rams' offensive coordinator — are continuing to build their coaching staff for the 2022 season.

We've already seen the Vikings choose a defensive coordinator and fill several key position coach roles, and it seems pretty clear who O'Connell's offensive coordinator will be. The two latest additions to be reported are a couple people on opposite ends of the coaching experience spectrum who won't be coordinators or position coaches, but will still hold important roles on their side of the ball.

The more notable name of the two is former Browns head coach Mike Pettine, who is being added to the Vikings' staff in what will presumably be a "senior defensive advisor" position, similar to the one Paul Guenther held last season. Pettine will work with DC Ed Donatell and Minnesota's other defensive coaches, while providing O'Connell with the resource of having a former head coach to discuss things with.

Pettine, 55, has been coaching in the NFL since 2002. He came up as a defensive assistant with the Ravens, then was the defensive coordinator for the Jets (2009-12) and Bills (2013) before two seasons as the Browns' head man. He managed a 7-9 season in 2014, which was one of just three 7-win seasons for Cleveland from 2003 to 2019. Pettine was the Packers' DC from 2018-20 and spent last season as a senior defensive assistant with the Bears.

He's received plenty of criticism for his tenures as a DC and head coach, but Pettine won't be either of those things in Minnesota. He'll be an advisor/assistant who brings two decades of NFL coaching experience to the table. From that lens, the hire makes sense.

The other new Vikings hire is 33-year-old Jerrod Johnson as the team's assistant quarterbacks coach. The former standout Texas A&M QB had a journeyman professional career in the NFL and other leagues before getting into coaching. He got his feet wet with the 49ers in 2017 — and may have crossed paths with Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah during that time — and spent the past three seasons with the Colts, most recently as an offensive quality control coach.

"Jerrod Johnson has impressed a lot of folks in the QB world," Bruce Feldman tweeted. "He worked hard to develop his teaching and coaching ability on the field and would travel to Elite 11 Regionals and Finals to get coaching reps in with high school QBs, and was doing so for very little money."

Johnson is an interesting addition to the Vikings' offensive staff. He threw for over 8,000 yards and 67 touchdowns in four years at A&M, being named to the All-Big 12 second team in his junior year. Johnson's focus is now in coaching and developing young quarterbacks. Because of that skillset and the obvious college connection, it makes sense to assume he'll be working closely with second-year Vikings quarterback and fellow former A&M star Kellen Mond. We didn't see much from Mond in his rookie season, but the tools are still there for him to factor into Minnesota's future if he develops. Perhaps Johnson can help make that happen.

Johnson's connections in the Elite 11 world, which many of the nation's top high school QBs pass through every year, will also be an asset if the Vikings are targeting a quarterback in the draft. This is a step towards him becoming a QB coach someday and perhaps an offensive coordinator eventually, if he continues rising.

Here's what the Vikings' expected new coaching staff looks like as of Monday, February 14. None of the hires are official yet.

  • Head coach: Kevin O'Connell
  • Offensive coordinator OR passing game coordinator: Wes Phillips
  • Quarterbacks:
  • Assistant quarterbacks: Jerrod Johnson
  • Running backs/run game coordinator: Curtis Modkins
  • Wide receivers: Keenan McCardell
  • Tight ends: Brian Angelichio
  • Offensive line: Chris Kuper
  • Defensive coordinator: Ed Donatell
  • Defensive line: Chris Rumph
  • Linebackers:
  • Defensive backs:
  • Senior defensive advisor (or similar title): Mike Pettine
  • Special teams coordinator:

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all offseason long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

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