The Vikings’ Coaching Staff: Fired, Hired, and Retired
The Vikings’ coaching staff has been working through no shortage of change since the end of the 2025 regular season.
Part of what makes all of the shuffling notable is the variety of ways that coaches have left. Some — most prominently, on defense — have been hired away for promotions. But then there has been other subtractions, as well, making things somewhat cloudy since so much shuffling has taken place.
The Vikings’ Coaching Staff
The Fired Coaches
In fairness, the offensive line was seldom healthy in 2025. Nevertheless, the front five didn’t play well enough overall, leading to moving on from Chris Kuper. He had been leading the OL since Kevin O’Connell took over in 2022.
Even worse is that recent linemen who have been allowed to journey elsewhere have played reasonably well. Center Garrett Bradbury isn’t great but he did go to the Super Bowl. Former guards Dalton Risner (soon to test free agency again) and Ezra Cleveland played sturdy football with their new teams.
The most discouraging, perhaps, is the fate of Ed Ingram, who is moving toward a beefy payday after exploding with the Texans.
Philadelphia has since hired Coach Kuper. Recent history has been kind to Philly’s o-line since it’s a group that has often been the envy of the NFL. Whether Coach Kuper can allow the Eagles to keep the good times rolling remains to be seen.
The Hired Coaches
Daronte Jones will be the DC in Washington. He gets the job after Brian Flores interviewed with the Commanders before coming back to the Twin Cities. He had been coaching the defensive backs.
Safeties coach Michael Hutchings is now a college DC. Marcus Dixon had been working with the d-line but is now doing the same job for the Cowboys. Tony Sorrentino is moving to Arizona. He’ll help out the receivers after working under the guidance of top receiver coach, Keenan McCardell (who is highly regarded).
Finally, remember that Brian Angelichio is now working for the Steelers. Previously, he was working with the tight ends but is now an OC under Mike McCarthy.
That’s a cool five coaches who have been stolen away.
The Retired Coaches
In 2022, Mike Pettine became the Vikings’ assistant head coach.
Kevin O’Connell had been a Sean McVay understudy, functioning as the Rams’ OC before becoming the Vikings’ HC. Moving into the top skipper job for the first time meant needing an experienced sounding board to help acclimate to such a lofty, challenging job position. The defensive-first Pettine made a lot of sense given the past relationship between the pair alongside the older coach’s previous experience as a head coach.
Coach Pettine is now retiring.
On the way out, the veteran coach suggested that he didn’t see eye-to-eye with Coach Flores. The minor kerfuffle got added onto previous comments from some players about Flores not always being easy to work with, perhaps contributing to the talented DC not getting hired for an open HC position.
