REPORT: Vikings looking to keep Mike Priefer for 2019

Some thought the Minnesota Vikings special teams coach would be gone following a rough 2018, but the team is reportedly working on an extension.

There were many areas in which the Minnesota Vikings failed in 2018, but if there was an area that was consistently bad throughout the season, it was the special teams unit.

With blocked kicks, poor coverage, and missed field goals, Football Outsiders ranked the Vikings 20th in their weighted special teams rating and some believed that it would signal the end for longtime special teams coach Mike Priefer.

Priefer’s contract expires this year, but there has been no recent news relating to his job status with Minnesota for the future.

That changed on Thursday when SirusXM’s Alex Marvez revealed that instead of letting Priefer walk away, the Vikings are trying to re-sign their special teams coach.

To Priefer’s credit, his saving grace of 2018 might have been discovering Matt Wile at the end of the preseason.

After Minnesota surprisingly cut Ryan Quigley, Wile was claimed off waivers and he had a solid 2018 season, averaging 45.2 yards per punt with a long of 70 yards in his first full year as a starting punter.

Unfortunately, Priefer’s hand didn’t work so well in the kicking department. After banging on the table for the Vikings to trade up for Auburn’s Daniel Carlson in the 2018 NFL Draft, the rookie struggled, going 1-for-4 on his field goal tries, including three misses against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2.

Minnesota cut Carlson after the debacle and after a simple talk with an old coach, he resurfaced in Oakland this season and made 16-of-17 (94.1 percent) field goal attempts for the Raiders.

While Carlson was resurrected by the bay, the Vikings handed Preifer Dan Bailey, who was the second-most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history prior to his arrival. Not even Bailey’s track record could save him in Minnesota, however, as he made just 21 of his 28 field goal tries in 2018 (75 percent) under Priefer’s watch.

Along with the kicking, Priefer’s coverage units also struggled, but they were never at full strength throughout the year.

Kentrell Brothers served a four-game suspension to start the season and Marcus Sherels was in and out of the lineup during the year with a hamstring injury. Sherels also missed the Week 17 meeting with the Chicago Bears due to a foot injury.

All of these factors added up to a tumultuous season for Vikings special teams in 2018, but it appears that Priefer will be safe from the chopping block for now.