With Ed Donatell Gone, 3 Thoughts on the Vikings' Defensive Coordinator Search

Kevin O'Connell needs to get this right after swinging and missing on Ed Donatell.

Last winter, following the conclusion of another sub-.500 Vikings season, general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer were shown the door. That meant, for the first time in a long time, fans got to follow the intrigue of searches for replacements at both crucial leadership positions.

It was an exciting period of time that included reporters staking out a GM visit in the cold, Jim Harbaugh nearly becoming the Vikings' next head coach, and many interviews. In the end, the franchise landed on Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O'Connell, choices that look excellent after a year in which the team went 13-4, won the NFC North, and changed the culture inside TCO Performance Center for the better.

There will be no new GM or head coach this year; Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell look like they'll be in Minnesota for a long time. But, for those who enjoyed the exciting uncertainty of those searches, you're in luck. The Vikings fired Ed Donatell on Thursday, which means their hunt for a new defensive coordinator has begun — and there are all kinds of interesting options out there.

As it gets underway, here are three thoughts on the Vikings' DC search.

There's pressure on Kevin O'Connell to get this right

O'Connell had quite the successful season as a first-year head coach. He led the Vikings to 13 regular season wins, with an 11-0 record in one-score games that reflected his staff's emphasis on situational mastery. He called plays for an offense that ranked in the top ten in yards, points, and success rate, in large part because he was able to unlock a new, more aggressive side of Kirk Cousins. And perhaps just as importantly, O'Connell forged meaningful relationships with his players, all of whom speak highly about him.

The black eye on year one under O'Connell was the defense. He chose Donatell to be his defensive coordinator, believing the Vic Fangio-style defense the veteran coach would install was awfully hard for quarterbacks to play against. That decision backfired. The Vikings were one of the NFL's worst defenses all season and seemed to make minimal adjustments to an approach that clearly wasn't working. In the end, their defensive ineptitude got them bounced from the playoffs as home favorites in the first round.

Now, as O'Connell goes through a second defensive coordinator hiring process in as many years, there's pressure on him to learn from what didn't work and get it right this time. As the head coach, he's in charge of — and accountable for — the entire team. Firing Donatell was the obvious decision, but that reflects poorly on O'Connell too.

Who Replaces Ed Donatell? 15 Candidates to Be the Vikings' Next DC

Under Zimmer, a defensive head coach, the Vikings had six different offensive coordinators in his final six seasons. Pat Shurmur and Kevin Stefanski left to become head coaches after good seasons, but Norv Turner and John DeFilippo either resigned or were fired mid-season, Gary Kubiak retired after a year, and Klint Kubiak struggled in 2021.

O'Connell doesn't want the Vikings' DC position to become a revolving door like that. He needs to get this hire right and land someone who can be in the role for a while, ideally only leaving if they were to do so well that they earned a head coaching gig.

It'll be interesting to see if the scheme changes

Vikings fans grew frustrated with the team's defensive scheme under Donatell. They lived in two-high shells, sat back in zone coverage, and typically rushed only four. And they got picked apart with little resistance, especially through the air.

However, not all Fangio-style defenses have to look like that. Plenty of teams — Fangio's Broncos, the Rams and Chargers under Brandon Staley, and the Eagles under Jonathan Gannon, to name a few — have run the same scheme with much better results. The Vikings' constant miscommunication in the secondary suggests the defense was poorly installed and coached by Donatell, rather than the scheme itself being at fault.

Thus, it'll be interesting to see what kind of hire O'Connell makes. He talked last year about why he liked this defensive scheme, which is a base 3-4 but really is a 4-2 nickel front 70 percent of the time. If he wants to run it back with the same scheme, which would give returning players some continuity, there are plenty of Fangio-tree candidates out there. Fangio himself could be an option, although he may not want to replace his good friend Donatell. Other possibilities include Ejiro Evero, Raheem Morris, Sean Desai, Jonathan Cooley, and Dennard Wilson.

Sean Desai

The Vikings could also switch things up completely. They could go back to a 4-3 and play more man coverage and blitz more, or any combination of those things. There are all kinds of different schematic changes they could make, particularly on the back end. Hiring someone like Brian Flores or Jim Leonhard would represent a notable philosophical change. There's a wide range of candidates out there from different schematic backgrounds, which makes this a fascinating search.

"You feel a responsibility to make sure all of our schemes are evolving and changing and improving year in and year out," O'Connell said on Wednesday. "That will be no different every year that I’m the coach here."

The new DC should inherit a different-looking roster

The writing had been on the wall for a while when it came to Donatell's firing. But even if he didn't do his job well enough, the players on the field weren't good enough either. Here's a stat:

• Vikings points allowed, 2021: 426
• Vikings points allowed, 2022: 427

One was with Zimmer at the helm, one with Donatell. The common thread is the core of the roster — players like Harrison Smith, Patrick Peterson, Eric Kendricks, Dalvin Tomlinson, Danielle Hunter, Cameron Dantzler, and others. The additions of Za'Darius Smith, Harrison Phillips, Jordan Hicks, and Chandon Sullivan didn't end up making a difference in the overall outcome.

Donatell's defense didn't seem to put players in the best positions to succeed. But the players also didn't execute. The playoff loss to the Giants was the latest example of the Vikings' defense looking old and slow.

This offseason, Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell have some major decisions to make on that side of the ball. Peterson, Tomlinson, and second-half breakout star Duke Shelley are free agents. Harrison Smith, Za'Darius Smith, and Kendricks have big cap hits and are on the wrong side of 30. Hicks struggled for most of the year. As much as those players have accomplished, is it time to move on?

Harrison Smith and Eric Kendricks have a combined 2023 cap hit north of $30 million

This defense needs a continued infusion of young talent. Brian Asamoah will almost certainly be a starting linebacker next year, but who else can be counted on? Fellow rookies Lewis Cine, Andrew Booth Jr., and Akayleb Evans are coming off injury-marred seasons that create doubt about their futures. The Vikings also have just five picks in this year's draft at the moment. Can players like Camryn Bynum, Khyiris Tonga, and Patrick Jones II make big leaps?

It'll be a complex puzzle for Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell and their staffs to sort out. What's clear is that although getting the coordinator hire right will be key, the Vikings also need to make the right decisions — including some tough ones — when it comes to their defensive personnel.

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