Some big Minnesota Vikings news dropped on Thursday when the team announced the firing of Ed Donatell as their defensive coordinator after just one season.
After just one season with the organization, Ed Donatell’s tenure as the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings has come to an end.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell released a statement on Thursday, calling the move to part with Donatell a “difficult decision” due to the “tremendous respect” he has for the veteran assistant coach.
Vikings News: Minnesota makes the correct decision to fire Ed Donatell
Following an abysmal performance by Minnesota’s defense during the entire 2022 season, O’Connell really didn’t have any other choice than to fire Donatell.
Donatell’s inability to make any sort of adjustments to his scheme throughout the season likely played a large role in the Vikings‘ decision to move on from him. Minnesota’s defense wasn’t good at any point in 2022, and nothing was ever done to fix the weaknesses of the unit.
Donatell’s defense was a big reason why the Vikings exited the playoffs this season after just one game. Against an average New York Giants offense this past weekend, Minnesota gave up an embarrassing 431 total yards, and they failed to force a single turnover.
Including the playoffs, the Vikings allowed the opposing offense to gain at least 400 total yards in 10 of their 18 games during the 2022 season. That’s the third-most in NFL history by a team that ended up making the playoffs.
It is a decision that was necessary by Minnesota, and now they can turn their attention to finding someone else to run their defense. Will Donatell’s replacement end up being someone who is already on the Vikings’ coaching staff, or will the team bring in someone completely new?
At the very least, whoever takes over the job for Minnesota can’t really do any worse than Donatell did during the 2022 season, right?