The Vikings First Head Coach Interview Belongs to a Familiar Coordinator
Josh Frey
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The process towards finding the Minnesota Vikings next head coach has officially gotten underway. While playoff football was going on, the front office was hard at work. They conducted their first interview of the hiring process, and that inaugural meeting was awarded to a coordinator that Minnesota has gotten used to seeing on opposing sidelines. The interview was given to current Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett.
Hackett has been an offensive coordinator in the NFL for eight of the past nine seasons, and he has been with the Packers for the past three seasons. In those three seasons, Green Bay has twice been among the top-10 in points and yards while being top-2 in giveaways each of the last three. In six games against the Minnesota Vikings, Hackett’s offense has averaged 29.5 points per contest while going 4-2. Of course, having an Aaron Rodgers at QB makes the job of a coordinator a bit easier, so perhaps some of these numbers are a bit inflated.
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However, Hackett was also the offensive coordinator of the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars. If you remember, that team earned a trip to the AFC Championship Game behind the arm of Blake Bortles, so the success can’t be entirely chalked up to his QB.
In addition, there is the potential for a tactical advantage if the Vikings were to hire Hackett. We’ve seen time and time again the battles between former coordinators and their old head coaches. We could get this twice a year between Hackett and Matt LaFleur. He knows the Green Bay Packers offense inside and out, and any advantage the Vikings can get on an Aaron Rodgers team should be taken into account.
At the end of the day though, it feels like there are better candidates out there. This interview feels like it is just them doing their due diligence and fully covering the field of candidates. I would expect someone else to get this job.