John DeFilippo not interested in talking about his Vikings departure

The former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator is currently adjusting to his new role as the leader of the offense for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

This time last year, the Minnesota Vikings were in the middle of their preparations for a run at the Super Bowl with a new offensive coordinator by the name of John DeFilippo.

DeFilippo had a lot of hype surrounding him after he came from a Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff that had just led the franchise to their first-ever Super Bowl win. Even though someone new was brought in to run their offense last year, the Vikings were basically just hoping for a continuation of what they were doing in 2017.

But that didn’t end up being the case.

Under DeFilippo, Minnesota saw their offense place more of an emphasis on their passing game and there was less of a focus on utilizing a rushing attack that was among the NFL’s best in 2017.

This philosophy led to a lot of frustration and it ultimately resulted in the Vikings firing DeFilippo with three games remaining in the 2018 season. It was a move that Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer felt he had to make in order to give the team their best shot at making the playoffs.

But it was a decision that was made too little, too late as the Vikings didn’t end up earning a trip to the postseason anyway.

Currently, DeFilippo is now the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars and he’s hoping that is latest coaching job turns out better than his tenure in Minnesota.

He recently spoke with the local Jacksonville media and he was asked about what might have led to his early departure from the Vikings. DeFilippo quickly let everyone know that he’s not the type of person who is going to dwell on something from his past.

"“I’m not going to make a lot of comments about that, about some of the things that happened up there, and the way things were handled. I’m kind of a where-my-feet-are-at-the-present-time (guy).I’m not going to sit here and go through some of the things that were handled the way they were up there. That’s not the way I operate.”"

When asked about his tendency to not call more running plays last year, despite multiple public outcries from Zimmer to do so, DeFilippo wasn’t about to admit he made any mistakes in 2018.

"“Every play I’ve called in my tenure as an offensive coordinator has been what I think gives our team the best chance for success.”"

That may be what he believes, but he probably should have done a better job at listening to his head coach last year. Zimmer is the guy in charge and if he believes something should be changed, then it’s up to his assistants to adjust their methods to the head coach’s request.

Zimmer made it very clear last season that he wanted Minnesota to put more emphasis on their rushing attack. He saw how successful the Vikings were in 2017 with this philosophy and he just wanted the team’s offense to resemble something close to that last year.

However, DeFilippo basically ignored Zimmer’s requests and he kept trying to turn Minnesota into a team with a pass-happy offense. So the Vikings head coach felt there was no other move to be made other than to fire his offensive coordinator before the end of the season.

With the Jaguars, DeFilippo is now working for another head coach in Doug Marrone who has also been a fan of run-based offenses in the past.

Will the DeFilippo actually be able to adjust his offense in 2019 if Marrone wants him to call more run plays? Or will Jacksonville be the latest team to give up on the offensive coordinator after only one season?