Rick Spielman Addresses Vikings OC Search...(Long)

[HappyViking]

http://www.vikings.com/news/article-1/Ri...f32d30a458

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Vikings are in the infancy stages of
the 2018 offseason, but Rick Spielman made it perfectly clear Thursday
morning that finding a new offensive coordinator is at the top of his
priority list.
The Vikings general manager held a 20-minute
session with beat reporters to tackle a number of topics, but he started
off the period with an update about Minnesota’s search to replace Pat
Shurmur.
Spielman said hiring a new offensive coordinator is of
the utmost significance, even before figuring out who will be the
Vikings quarterback in 2018 and beyond.
Spielman gave reporters a timeline on when he and Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer expect to hire someone.
“Last
week and early this week, we’ve been doing our coaching search for the
offensive coordinator position,” Spielman said. “We’ll continue that
process next week, and then hopefully make a decision sometime in the
near future after next week. 
“We wanted to make sure we do our
due diligence and go through the process very thoroughly [and] identify
the right candidates,” Spielman added. “We have done the first four out
of town because of everything happening here in the city.”
Spielman noted the Vikings may line up one or two more interviews “depending on what pops up. We’ll see.”
While Spielman did not name the four potential coaches who have
already interviewed, he said he likely did not expect the need for
second interviews with a candidate to occur.  Spielman noted that he
also spoke with candidates as an “Uber driver” shuttling candidates from
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to Zimmer’s ranch
where the interviews took place.
“I was not only helping organize
that and sitting through those, I was an Uber driver as well,” Spielman
said. “I don’t know how many miles I put back and forth between the
Cincinnati airport and Coach Zim’s ranch, but it gave me an opportunity
to sit and speak with the coaches as you’re driving with them. I know
Coach Zim’ is very happy with our staff, and I don’t anticipate any
changes [to the 2017 staff] at this time.”
“I think we’ve got a
pretty good feel for the people we have interviewed so far, there’s a
couple more we just want to get in front of,” Spielman said. “I think by
going through this process and doing it the way we’re handling it, that
we’ll have a pretty good idea.
“I think the biggest thing
looking for the offensive coordinator is that we have great chemistry on
our coaching staff. They’ve done a phenomenal job, even from when Pat
took over [in 2016] to taking Norv [Turner’s] system and putting a
little bit of his twist on it, then adding some things [Shurmur] learned
from Chip Kelly as well,” Spielman added. “However, the new offensive
coordinator is, part of the process is, ‘Do you blow it up and start
from a whole new system? Or do you continue to build on what you’ve been
able to do from the past year and a half?’ Those are the decisions
Coach Zim’ will have to make.”
Spielman said that the new coordinator will have a significant say in helping determine Minnesota’s quarterback going forward. 
“He’ll
have a major part of the decision-making process. He’ll be heavily
involved in that,” Spielman said. “The way that we structure everything
is that everybody has a part in that process … myself, Coach Zimmer, our
scouting department and all of our coaches.
“Anytime we make a
major decision, we have a systematic approach that I feel is very
thorough so we can make the best decision possible,” Spielman added.
“This will be no different for whoever comes in.”
Here are four more topics Spielman addressed at the Mall of America:

[Guest]

1. The finish in Philadelphia 
The Vikings fell a win short of their first Super Bowl appearance in 41 years after losing to the Eagles in the NFC title game.
Spielman
was asked what went wrong in Philadelphia as the league’s top defense
played its worst game of the season in a 38-7 loss.
Spielman
noted that with the Vikings winning in such miraculous fashion the
weekend before, the emotional high could have played a role in the
defeat, but he said that wasn’t an excuse.
“We just didn’t play a
good game. Offensively, defensively … we just didn’t play like we did
all year,” Spielman said. “You never want to make an excuse for how we
won the week before, but you look at the stats and teams who had won  on
a walk-off TD were 0-6 with a 24-point differential and minus-11
turnover [ratio].
“But that’s not an excuse; we just didn’t go
out there and play well, and unfortunately, we were that close,”
Spielman added. “But to me, you move on. We don’t have time to be
feeling sorry for ourselves, we’ve got a lot of major decisions to
make.”
Spielman noted that the Vikings were quickly forced to look ahead to the offseason with Shurmur taking the Giants gig.
“Monday
at 7 a.m. [after the game] I was in Coach Zim’s office, and we got
through the game and then, ‘Hey, Pat Shurmur is going to be the head
coach of the New York Giants,’ so our focus on Tuesday was getting
coaches lined up,” Spielman said.
2. The offseason plan
Minnesota’s 2017 season ended a month later than the 2016 season because of the Vikings deep playoff run. 
But Spielman said Thursday that the success won’t alter Minnesota’s yearly offseason plan.
The
Vikings general manager said work already has begun on looking ahead to
the NFL Scouting Combine, free agency and the 2018 NFL Draft.
“How
we usually operate is that we get through our Vikings personnel
meetings and understand where your needs are and then look at the
draft,” Spielman said. “I know we’re picking 30th this year, ‘What kind of players are going to be in those areas?’
“We
haven’t got into that part of the process yet; we will in a few weeks.
Our scouts have been out at the East-West Game and at the Senior Bowl.
Our pro scouts have been, all this week, meeting on [unrestricted free
agents]. We’re on schedule like we’ve always been every year,” Spielman
added. “But you have to do it through the process, so when you go into
the final game plan of how you want to improve your football team, you
know where the depth is at and who’s going to be there at pick No. 30.”
3. An update on Cook
Dalvin Cook is on schedule to return to the field in 2018.
The Vikings second-round pick in 2017 was injured in Week 4 when he tore his ACL and missed the remainder of the season.
Spielman
said Thursday that Cook’s rehab and recovery could lead to similar
success that former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has when he
returned to the field in 2012 following an ACL injury of his own.
“He’s
progressed very nicely,” Spielman said of Cook. “I talked to [Director
of Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer] Eric Sugarman yesterday when
we got back in town, and we don’t see any reason where he’s not going to
be where Adrian Peterson was when he came off his knee [injury].
“We
have no reason to believe Dalvin won’t even be stronger than he was
before the injury,” Spielman added. “We’re very excited about getting
him back on the field.”
Cook rushed for 354 yards on 74 attempts
(4.8 yards per attempt) and scored two touchdowns in three-plus games in
his rookie season.
4. Super Bowl Sunday
Spielman said he will be in attendance at Super Bowl LII between New England and Philadelphia at U.S. Bank Stadium.
But
he won’t dwell on the game as he will be back at work Monday looking
for every possible chance to make sure his team is in the game next
season.
“I will be at the Super Bowl Sunday,” Spielman said. “I will watch the game and move on.”