Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Interview Schedule: Who Will Replace Mike Zimmer?
I've gotten a bunch of questions about why the Vikings are currently interviewing head coaches despite not having a general manager yet, so let's try to break it down.
The Vikings are further along in their search for a new GM. By Thursday night, they will have completed their first round of GM interviews with eight candidates. From there, the list will be narrowed down and second-round interviews will take place. A hire could come by sometime towards the end of this month.
And yes, the GM hire is coming first. Vikings owner and president Mark Wilf confirmed that in his press conference after Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer were fired. That new GM will have 'input' on the hiring of the team's head coach. That doesn't necessarily mean they will just get to hand-pick whoever they want, but it could mean that. Or they could have a say in the selection of someone out of a group of candidates the Vikings' internal search committee likes. We don't know.
What we do know is the Vikings weren't just going to wait until hiring a GM to get going on the coaching search. They've lined up interviews with eight candidates, completing a few of them already. Waiting would've put them behind the eight-ball. They're casting a wide net and doing due diligence on candidates with a variety of backgrounds.
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What I would guess is that more names will be added to that list once the GM search is narrowed down and a hire is eventually made. The new GM may have people in mind that they'd like to bring in for interviews, in addition to taking part in second-round interviews with candidates the Vikings like. That's where you might see popular names like Brian Daboll, Byron Leftwich, Eric Bienemy, or Doug Pederson — who aren't currently on the Vikings' list — pop up. You could also see names we haven't heard much about at all up to this point.
But for now, here's the schedule of Vikings head coach interviews. Most of these are via SI's Albert Breer and NFL Network's Ian Rapaport on Twitter.
Sunday, 1/16
Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett (completed)
Wednesday, 1/19
Cowboys DC Dan Quinn (completed)
Cowboys OC Kellen Moore (completed)
Thursday, 1/20
Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon (completed)
Friday, 1/21
Buccaneers DC Todd Bowles (completed)
Rams OC Kevin O'Connell (completed)
Rams DC Raheem Morris (completed)
Sunday, 1/23
49ers DC DeMeco Ryans
This will be updated as we learn more. Again, you can read about all eight candidates here.
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