02-01-2018, 09:54 PM
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:
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:
