The Minnesota Vikings are narrowing down their options for a new defensive coordinator for the 2023 NFL season and beyond.
This offseason will bring many difficult decisions for the Minnesota Vikings and the most immediate of those situations involves finding a new defensive coordinator to serve under head coach Kevin O’Connell.
It appears as though the process is getting closer to completion as one of the team’s top prospects is reportedly being allowed to interview for the open position despite being under contract.
Here is the tweet from NFL insider Ian Rapoport sharing that the Broncos will allow Ejiro Evero the opportunity to interview for the job.
Sources: The #Broncos are allowing defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero out of his contract and he’s expected to interview with the #Vikings. He’s considered a strong candidate in Minnesota, along with Brian Flores.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 4, 2023
What does this mean for the Minnesota Vikings?
The clock is ticking on finding a great candidate to be the team’s next defensive coordinator. With some available candidates getting other offers, accepting other positions, or bowing out of the race, locking in the best possible candidate as soon as possible would be optimal.
External candidates Brian Flores and Ejiro Evero are the favorites to hold the position previously held by Ed Donatell but assistant coach Mike Pettine is also an option to be the next defensive coordinator.
Since the Vikings ranked No. 31 in total defense behind only the Detroit Lions, a change was absolutely necessary considering the offense was regularly putting up solid scores on the offensive side of the ball.
The new defensive coordinator needs to have input on schemes, strategies, and personnel, meaning that the sooner they can bring an individual in, the sooner they can get to work on fixing the issues that plagued this defense last season.
Best of luck to all the candidates in the running to be the next defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. Hopefully, they can help that unit improve and make the team more competitive next season.