Report: Vikings Hiring Former Broncos' Assistant Ed Donatell as Defensive Coordinator

For the first time since 2008, Ed Donatell will be calling the defensive plays on gameday. On Thursday, ESPN reported that the Minnesota Vikings are finalizing a deal to make Donatell their new defensive coordinator — the same job title he held with the Denver Broncos the past three seasons.

The difference? In Denver, Donatell did not call the plays. That was Vic Fangio's purview. In Minnesota, under new head coach Kevin O'Connell, Donatell will be calling the plays.

Donatell's defection out of Denver comes as no surprise as reports broke over last weekend confirming that the Broncos' new head coach Nathaniel Hackett did not intend on keeping Donatell around with eyes on Los Angeles Rams' secondary coach Ejiro Evero to succeed him as defensive coordinator.

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Donatell's move to the NFC North is a bit of an upset as all signs pointed to him being hired under Pete Carroll in Seattle. But sometimes NFL scuttlebutt can be wrong.

Donatell, 65, leaves the Mile High City on the heels of what was his third stint as an assistant coach with the Broncos. Minnesota will be getting 31 years of experience at defensive coordinator and for the first time since 2010, Donatell will be working outside the shadow of Fangio, whom he followed on three consecutive coaching stops from 2011-21.

Donatell's specialty as a coach starts in the secondary but being in Fangio's shadow came with many collateral blessings, not the least of which is the NFL's demand for any Fangio assistant to take defensive coordinator jobs across the league. Donatell knows Fangio's scheme like the back of his hand but he's never called it on gameday.

It's unclear exactly what scheme the Vikings want Donatell to employ but it's a safe bet that Fangio's zone-heavy match-quarters system will be heading to the NFC North to make the lives of those quarterbacks a bit more complicated.

The Broncos finished as the No. 3 scoring defense, ranking eighth in the NFL in yards allowed this past season under Donatell (Fangio). Donatell will join former Broncos O-line assistant coach Chris Kuper in Minnesota, as O'Connell hired him to serve as the actually O-line position coach.

Meanwhile, Fangio has been interviewed and linked to multiple coaching opportunities across the NFL but it turns out that after the Broncos fired him, it's taken him longer than the "five minutes" he predicted it would to find his next job.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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