Vikings Expected to Hire Curtis Modkins as RBs Coach and Run-Game Coordinator

Kevin O'Connell still has a Super Bowl to prepare for with the Rams, but he's simultaneously starting to put his Vikings coaching staff together. The first reported addition to the staff is Curtis Modkins, who is expected to be hired as Minnesota's running backs coach and run game coordinator, according to multiple reports.

Modkins has been with the Broncos as their running backs coach for the past four seasons.

Per source: Broncos RB coach Curtis Modkins leaning toward joining the Vikings as their RB coach/run-game coordinator. Modkins did great work with Phillip Lindsay and Melvin Gordon/JaVonte Williams the past four years in Denver. #9sports
— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) February 8, 2022

Vikings expected to hire Broncos running backs coach Curtis Modkins as their run-game coordinator/RBs coach, per source. Denver’s running game was stout last year. @mikeklis reported earlier that Modkins was leaning this way.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 8, 2022

Modkins will replace Kennedy Polamalu as the Vikings' RBs coach. Polamalu had been in that role for the past five years. Rick Dennison was the Vikings' run-game coordinator in 2019 and 2020, but was moved to a "senior offensive advisor" role last season due to his refusal to get vaccinated.

Modkins comes to Minnesota with a strong track record. The Broncos had a pair of 900-yard rushers last season in Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon, who combined for over 2,300 yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns. Gordon, Phillip Lindsay, and Royce Freeman all had success in Denver under Modkins' coaching.

In 2017, Modkins worked with Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen as the Bears' RBs coach. He was the 49ers' offensive coordinator in 2016, which likely played a role in this move. O'Connell was on San Francisco's offensive coaching staff that year, while Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah worked in analytics.

Before that, Modkins was a RBs coach with the Chiefs (2008), Cardinals (2009), and Lions (2013-15), and was the Bills' offensive coordinator from 2010-12. The 51-year-old Texas native has been around a bunch of different running backs, coaches, and offensive schemes during his 14 years in the NFL.

In Minnesota, Modkins will take over a talented room featuring one of the game's elite RBs in Dalvin Cook and excellent depth with Alexander Mattison and Kene Nwangwu. He'll work closely with that position while also playing an important role in game-planning, play design, and installs as the run-game coordinator. The Vikings still need an offensive coordinator and could add a passing-game coordinator as well.

Modkins was a standout running back for TCU in the early 1990s and coached at the college level (TCU, New Mexico, and Georgia Tech) from 1995 to 2007.

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