12 minute read
With the NFL Scouting Combine wrapping up, and only 8 days away from NFL Free Agency “officially” starting, there is no better time to get into the weeds of what the Vikings have already changed to their leadership during an interesting, but pivotal, 2026 off-season.
The Minnesota Vikings enter an interesting off-season, where they recently fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, after 4 years with the Franchise, and not even a year after extending his contract. Now, with Rob Brzezinski playing the part of interim GM, the franchise enters uncharted waters, being the only organization without a permanent General Manager in the League.
For Part 1 of this off-season primer, let’s dive into the changes to the Front Office, the Coaching staff, and why I feel optimistic about the direction the team is headed.
Introducing Rob B.
As mentioned above, the Vikings will be maneuvering the 2026 off-season under new leadership. Introducing Rob Brzezinski, the interim GM, at least until after the draft, for now…
You may have heard Rob’s name before, and that’s because he has been with the Vikings since 1999, and in the NFL since 1993. Rob’s background has always been more financial and operations focused, with his title as Vice President, Football Operations since 2014. Rob has been a crucial member of the Front Office for nearly his whole tenure with the franchise, and has played a major role in contract extensions, salary cap compliance, and team expenses.
Rob is one of the most experienced members of any front office in the NFL, and the Wilfs certainly trust and respect him enough to promote him, and give him the first shot at being the permanent guy. Immediately following the firing of KAM, Mark Wilf came out and mentioned the need for a more traditional football guy to lead the team in this next phase. The move to trust Rob B. to navigate this off-season, with more traditional football guys already on staff, is a strong endorsement for Rob, but it could also lead to further changes in the near future to the Front Office.
Personally, going through Free Agency and the Draft without a more-permanent GM is an interesting choice, and I think it shows how valued Kevin O’Connell is by the Wilfs, and will be a point of emphasis for future GM candidates in the late Spring/early Summer. The team has had this “collaboration” mindset, or what we all thought was collaboration, in the last few years, but what has come to light since the firing of KAM has been everything less than that. I imagine the Wilfs know this, they trust and want KOC to be Head Coach, and want to find a future GM that will not only want to work with KOC, but to truly take on the collaborative leadership that this franchise desperately needs.
The bottom line: no other changes were made to the Front Office, so the staff, analysts, and scouts that have been there since, both, Rick Spielman and Kwesi, remain the same. While Vikings fans, including myself, may feel skeptical about the next couple of months, there is still a lot to be excited about.
The Vikings still have a strong roster, a great coaching staff, coming into a big prove it year, and ended the season with positive momentum. Rob B. can make his mark and stamp his ticket to legend status with a successful off-season.
New Coaches Deep Dive
The Vikings made a plethora of change to their coaching staff, with a few faces getting let go, or moving to a new team, to hiring, promoting, and expanding the 2026 staff.
The biggest win was the extension of Brian Flores:
After taking interviews with the Commanders for their Defensive Coordinator opening, and the Steelers & Ravens for their Head Coach opening, Brian Flores is back as the Vikings DC, and a huge sigh of relief was let out by all Vikings fans.
Since Brian Flores joined the Vikings in 2023, the defense has ranked:
- 3rd in YPG given up in 2025
- Top 16 in ’23 & ’24
- 7th in PPG given up in 2025
- Top 13 in ’23
- Top 5 in ’24
- 3rd in DVOA
- Top 10 since 2023
BFlo coming back keeps the defense at an elite level, and brings a sense of security and confidence as the Vikings turn their attention to 2026. He signed one of, if not the biggest, contracts for a coordinator in the NFL, telling the league how valuable he is, even as he religiously gets overlooked for HC jobs.
As previously mentioned, the Vikings had a busy January and February reshaping the coaching staff. Let’s go into more detail on a few of the hires and changes that I value as the most significant to this point:
Frank Smith, Assistant Head Coach
After spending the 2025 season in Miami, where he was the Offensive Coordinator under Mike McDaniel since 2022, Frank Smith agreed to join the Vikings staff as their Assistant Head Coach, previously held by Mike Pettine.
Of all the new hires, this one excites me the most. The Vikings have struggled with the run game under KOC, where they have failed to be in the top half of the league in most run game rankings since he arrived in 2022. Enter Frank, who is bringing a modern running game scheme to Minnesota. Miami, similar to Minnesota, traditionally focused on a more pass heavy offense. However, since 2024, the Dolphins run game increased in usage, which also resulted in higher efficiency.
Obviously, having a Running Back like De’Von Achane helps prop those numbers up, but the use of motion, various run schemes, and creativity certainly doesn’t hurt. You may ask, how much credit does Frank actually deserve on improving the run game in Miami? Well, he served as the Run Game Coordinator in LA for the Chargers in 2021, where he led an 11th ranked run game, and helped coach a top-5 offensive unit that season. With two organizations having strong run games, with various talent on the o-line and in the backfield, Frank has proven he can make the most of any situation, and the changes coming to Minnesota should be a major improvement.
What excites me most about Frank, and his run game expertise, is the creativity and implementation of a modern-day run game and scheme. The Vikings have used a more zone-heavy run game since KOC arrived, but it has been a very traditional zone scheme, that lacked the creativity that Miami has shown in the last two years. The creativity of making the blocking scheme look like split inside zone, but running G counter off of it (for example) is something I haven’t seen the Vikings really look to do previously, and this can be a new wrinkle that will help the offense as a whole improve in efficiency.
In the coming weeks, I’ll do a breakdown of what exactly the Vikings run game has been under KOC, and where I expect changes to be made with the addition of Frank and any new RBs that will be joining the roster. Will it be a carbon copy of Miami? Probably not to a tee, but I do expect some improvements and mimics in year one, and the Vikings to focus on getting tougher up front, even with the investment on the interior o-line last offseason, and a push to find their franchise RB.
Keith Carter, Offensive Line
Of all the new hires, this is the one I’m the most skeptical of. There are pros and cons with this hire, and let’s start on the positive side:
Keith is going into his second year with the Vikings, bringing consistency to a o-line that saw 3 new starters to start the year, and a bunch of rotations throughout an injury ridden season. With Chris Kuper’s contract expiring, and not getting renewed, a lot of fans were hoping for an outsider to be hired. While Keith may have left some disappointed, the consistency after a year of anything but consistent is what may be needed for this unit.
Donovan Jackson’s progression throughout the year should have fans excited about what is to come with the o-line. This unit is scattered with highly regarded players and former prospects, and if Jackson is a sign of this coaching staff’s development tendency, then the team could be in good hands.
To wrap up the pros: Keith Carter has previous experience with a top rushing attack, including his tenure as O-line Coach for the Tennessee Titans from 2018-2022. While under Mike Vrabel, the Titans had a lot of success, including the 2021 season, where the Titans went 12-5 and earned the #1 seed in the AFC. This same year, the Titans offensive line ranked 16th in the NFL, but gave up a high pressure rate… To be transparent, how much of the run game was due to Derrick Henry?
That takes us right into the cons: it hasn’t always been…great. From 2023-2024, he was with the Jets, where he coached the 31st ranked unit in 2023. It was his first year in New York, and the talent on that unit is day and night to the 2026 Minnesota Vikings o-line, health dependent. To give some context, the best player on the 2023 Jets o-line was Joe Tippmann, their 2nd round rookie Center, and the unit saw many players enter and leave the lineup due to injury throughout the year.
However, the unit did see improvements in 2024, but still an overall disappointing year. The Jets spent a lot of resources on improving their offense as a whole (cue the Aaron Rodgers run out video) and expectations were that the o-line would be ranked in the top-5. They invested in Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses to bookend the edges, and made continued investments into Alijah Vera-Tucker and Joe Tippmann’s development that had Jets fans excited about the year to come.
That unit ended the season ranked 17th in the NFL, with a constant rotating unit due to injuries (sound familiar?). The run game did see good improvements for the Jets, but the true bright spot here is the 87.2 PFF grade for pass blocking overall. The Jets parted ways with Keith following the 2024 season, where he then joined the Vikings. It is remain to be seen if he recreates a disappointing 2024 for the Vikings, or if he learned from his mistakes and improves.
Keith Carter has a history of being a tough, gritty, coach, with many reports from former Jets players not exactly singing his praises:
So, Vikings fans, it may be safe to put any type of Breece Hall dreams to bed.
Of the concerns, this is one that I’m the least worried about, as football coaches, especially coaches in the trenches, are traditionally more gritty than other position coaches. Also, there haven’t been anymore reports or players to speak out, and it doesn’t seem like a concern based on the players with the Vikings last year. KOC has a track record of being favorable with the players, and being a “players coach”, so any concerns of Keith Carter being a cancer to the players shouldn’t be a huge concern at this point.
Gerald Alexander, Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs
Gerald Alexander is the last coach to highlight, and I wanted to end on a high note for the new coaches to the team. Gerald was a part of BFlo’s staff in Miami back in 2020-21, and is known around the league as a rising star.
His history includes being a DB in the NFL for a handful of teams, including the Lions, Jaguars, and Panthers, from 2007-2011, before he transitioned to coaching, starting in the NCAA in 2013. He quickly worked his way from an Assistant, to a Defensive Backs coach in two years in the college ranks, and joined the NFL in 2020 under BFlo.
Gerald has stressed an important role that Safeties play in a defense:
He’s also played a crucial part in the development of many DBs, including Joey Porter Jr and Minkah Fitzpatrick. He is a crucial piece to the 2026 Vikings, as the defensive backfield hasn’t been a strong suit since the Mike Zimmer days.
As much as it pains to say: replacing Harrison Smith is going to be tough, and if Gerald can develop a Safety who can be a building block in the backfield, the defense could improve even more, which is hard to improve an already elite unit. I expect the Vikings to be aggressive in improving the DBs, including using a day 1/2 pick on a starter or two. Then, it’ll be in Gerald’s hands to develop them, which I have confidence in.
Final Thoughts
The coach that got promoted that caught my attention the most was Josh McCown. Another polarizing coach in Vikings fans eyes, McCown was expected to help develop JJ McCarthy, which has left fans split on who should lead the team under center in 2026. McCown played a pivotal part in the development of Sam Darnold last year, where McCown was the QBs coach in 2024. Previously, he was the QB Coach in Carolina, where he worked directly with Bryce Young, who after a few season, appears to finally be putting it together.
A few weeks ago, McCown got promoted to Passing Game Coordinator & QBs coach, where the QB play will be under the microscope, even more intently than last year. From reports this week, there is still belief in the building that JJ McCarthy can be the guy:
Josh McCown is once again trusted with his development. This year is a huge year for McCown and McCarthy (we’ll talk more about JJ next week), and the whole offensive staff, and I’m excited to see how it plays out.
The 2026 off-season could be make or break time for KOC. The changes so far have brought some optimism, and has setup the Franchise for a transition into new Front Office leadership, but there is still a lot of work to do to get cap compliant, upgrade and manage weaknesses of the roster, and deepen the team.
Come back next week, as I dive into the roster, and take a look at what has changed, what could be changing, and what I hope to see with the Free Agency window opening up.
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Skol To Go 