Vikings reportedly request to interview top defensive coordinator candidate

The Minnesota Vikings have reportedly requested to interview Ejiro Evero of the Denver Broncos for their current defensive coordinator vacancy.

With their search for a new defensive coordinator still ongoing, the Minnesota Vikings have reportedly requested to interview Ejiro Evero of the Denver Broncos for the position according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Friday.

Evero is currently the defensive coordinator for the Broncos, and despite the team’s lack of overall success in 2022, the defense was one of the best units in the entire NFL.

Minnesota Vikings have connections to Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero

Before he was hired to be Denver’s defensive coordinator for the 2022 season, Evero spent the previous five years on the coaching staff of the Los Angeles Rams. He was the safeties coach for the Rams from 2017 to 2020, and then in 2021, he was the team’s defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach.

In 2020 and 2021, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was also a member of the Los Angeles coaching staff, as the team’s offensive coordinator. So O’Connell and Evero have already spent time working on the same coaching staff and the Minnesota head coach was clearly impressed with what his former co-worker was able to do for the Broncos in 2022.

That’s not the only connection Evero has to Minnesota though, as he and current Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were employed by the San Francisco 49ers from 2013 to 2015. Now, Minnesota is hoping that Evero, O’Connell, and Adofo-Mensah can all become co-workers once again.

Unfortunately, the Broncos can still prevent Evero from interviewing with the Vikings, as it would be considered a lateral move. New Denver head coach Sean Payton still hasn’t decided who he would like the team’s defensive coordinator to be in 2022, so he would have to give the okay before Minnesota is allowed to interview Evero.

With Evero leading the charge during the 2022 campaign, the Broncos’ defense ranked 14th in the NFL in points allowed, seventh in total yards allowed, 12th in passing yards allowed, 10th in rushing yards allowed, second in opposing third-down conversion rate, and seventh in opposing red zone conversion rate.