Vikings Expected to Begin GM Interviews on Sunday, Starting With Titans' Monti Ossenfort
The Vikings have eight interviews scheduled with candidates for their general manager vacancy, and those interviews are expected to begin on Sunday, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Fowler added a note that among the first in line will be Titans director of player personnel Monti Ossenfort, a Minnesota native and former longtime Patriots scout.
As a reminder, here's the current list of eight:
- Monti Ossenfort, Titans director of player personnel
- Catherine Raiche, Eagles VP of football operations
- Brandon Brown, Eagles director of player personnel
- Ryan Poles, Chiefs executive director of player personnel
- John Spytek, Buccaneers VP of player personnel
- Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Browns VP of football operations
- Glenn Cook, Browns VP of player personnel
- Eliot Wolf, Patriots front office consultant
You can go here to read about each one.
It makes sense that Ossenfort would have time this weekend, since the Titans have the No. 1 seed in the AFC and the accompanying first-round bye. I'd imagine that the two Browns execs — Adofo-Mensah and Cook — will also be up soon, as Cleveland isn't in the playoffs this year. The other five work for teams playing this weekend, and I'm not entirely sure how that might impact their availability for interviews. The Eagles and Patriots are underdogs in wild card weekend, so that could be three more names freed up for interviews if those games go as expected.
Update: The schedule is Ossenfort on Sunday, Adofo-Mensah on Monday, and Poles on Tuesday.
It's a very interesting group, with candidates coming from a number of different backgrounds. Wolf, Ossenfort, and Spytek have been in the NFL for a long time, while Brown and Raiche have been ultra-fast risers within the league. The main thing that jumps out to me overall is the youth factor. Rick Spielman is 59 years old, but it looks like his successor will be much younger. Ossenfort, at 43 years old, is the oldest member of that group. Adofo-Mensah, Brown, Raiche, and Poles are all in their mid-30s.
Why The Vikings Are an Attractive Landing Spot for Head Coach and GM Candidates
The Vikings appear to have a great list of eight names ready for interviews, and they could certainly bring in more candidates in the near future as well. Although they're going to be deliberate and take as much time as needed to find the right person for the job, I do think they'll try to get someone hired in the next couple weeks so they can fully get going on the head coach search.
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