The Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator is rumored to be among the candidates for the current head coach opening with the Cleveland Browns.
Prior to the 2018 season, the Minnesota Vikings had to find a new offensive coordinator thanks to Pat Shurmur leaving to become the new head coach of the New York Giants.
Just two weeks later, the Vikings selected Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo to fill Shurmur’s old spot on the staff. Before signing with Minnesota, DeFilippo was considered by some as a potential head coaching candidate for a few of the openings around the NFL last season.
But obviously, he felt that the opportunity to join a team like the Vikings was something that he did not want to pass up.
Under DeFilippo, Minnesota has seen an improvement in their passing offense this season. Led by Kirk Cousins, Adam Thielen, and Stefon Diggs, the Vikings currently have the seventh-best passing attack in the league.
However, Minnesota’s rushing offense has taken a tremendous dip since DeFilippo replaced Shurmur. Only two teams in the NFL have rushed for less yards than the Vikings this year.
Some of Minnesota’s struggles on offense can possibly be attributed to this only being DeFilippo’s second season as an offensive coordinator. The last time he was in control of an offense was back in 2015 with the Cleveland Browns.
Speaking of the Browns, DeFilippo is apparently a potential candidate to fill the team’s current head coaching vacancy according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer on Wednesday.
It’s not too surprising that Breer included DeFilippo’s name among the list of potential candidates since the Vikings’ current offensive coordinator did spend that one season in Cleveland and he is also a native of Ohio.
If DeFilippo were interested in the opening, would Minnesota would try and prevent him from interviewing for the job like they did with Kevin Stefanski in February when Shurmur wanted to hire him as the Giants’ offensive coordinator?
Or would the Vikings be fine with DeFilippo taking head coaching a job elsewhere and then be forced hire a new offensive coordinator for the fourth time since 2014?
Obviously, Minnesota would like their offensive scheme to remain consistent for more than a single season. But the Vikings may not have a choice in 2019 if DeFilippo leaves to become a head coach with the Browns or another team.