Nolan Teasley Makes Two Huge Hires in Vikings' Front Office

Teasley has added a couple assistant general managers with impressive backgrounds.

Vikings GM Nolan Teasley | Alli Rusco, Minnesota Vikings

A day after a handful of departures in the Vikings' front office were reported, new general manager Nolan Teasley has made a pair of big-time hires. Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner are joining Minnesota as assistant general managers under Teasley, according to various insiders on Friday evening.

Healy was most recently the vice president of research and strategy with the Cleveland Browns, where he "led the integration of data and advanced insights into all parts of football operations," according to his bio with the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. He joined the Browns in 2016 as a senior player personnel strategist, developing methods for player evaluation and other decisions. Before that, he worked for Football Outsiders and was an economics professor at Loyola Marymount. He got his Ph.D. in economics at MIT.

Healy will reportedly serve as the Vikings' secondary football executive. He's a major addition on the analytics side for Teasley, who said at his introductory press conference that he wants to be "guided by evaluation" and "anchored by data."

Kirchner, like Teasley, comes from the Seahawks' front office, where the two worked together for the last 13 years. His most recent title in Seattle was VP of player personnel, which he had held since 2020. In that role, he oversaw "both college scouting and pro personnel, directing all aspects of roster construction and player acquisition," per his Seahawks bio. Before that, he was a co-director of player personnel for five years and the team's pro personnel director for two seasons.

Kirchner joined the Seahawks in 2010 after eight seasons as a pro scout with the Carolina Panthers. Like Teasley, his NFL career began as a Seahawks intern. Kirchner is a Minnesota native who played quarterback at St. John's University. He's a well-respected evaluator and an important hire on the scouting and personnel side of things. The Vikings have now poached two of John Schneider's top lieutenants in the Seahawks' front office.

At least on paper, these are two strong AGM hires for Teasley, balancing analytics/data and traditional scouting and evaluation. The best front offices utilize a blend of both.

The Vikings' assistant GMs under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were Demitrius Washington and Ryan Grigson. Washington is leaving the organization to pursue other opportunities, but the Vikings reportedly plan to retain Grigson in a different capacity. It's not yet clear what his title will be. Grigson was the GM of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012-16.