Minnesota Vikings want to interview Darrell Bevell
Seattle Seahawks coordinators Darrell Bevell and Dan Quinn are hot names on the head coaching market, and the Minnesota Vikings have requested interviews with both coaches, according to CBS Sports’s Jason La Canfora. The Seahawks are in the playoffs and might not be inclined to grant those interviews, but I expect them to allow the Vikings to interview both Quinn and Bevell due to the fact that the Seahawks have a bye week. Plus, Bevell was the Vikings offensive coordinator for a while, so granting an interview with Bevell would be seen as a courtesy on the Seahawks part.
It’s interesting to see that the Vikings are keying in on a reunion with Bevell, especially as the replacement to Leslie Frazier. Without a quarterback, the Vikings seem inclined to hire a head coach who cuts his teeth on the offensive side of the ball, especially since Frazier is a defensive-minded coach. Frazier’s Black Monday firing was definitely not a surprise, and it will be interesting to see which other head coaching candidates the Vikings show interest in.
Per the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Darrell Bevell “loves” the Seahawks, and this definitely complicates things for the Vikings. While Bevell would probably be more than amicable to rejoining the Vikings organization as their head coach, he’s in a very comfortable situation in Seattle. Not only does he have a great young quarterback and a top running back, but his offense also gets shielded by the NFL’s top defense. He’s the offensive coordinator of the best team in the NFL, and he loves the city and organization; that’s enough to make the chances of Bevell showing interest in the Vikings head coaching vacancy far from a guarantee.
My verdict on Bevell is that he’s a good offensive coordinator, but he’s not head coaching material. If he ends up joining the Vikings, then it will be interesting to see if Bill Musgrave sticks around.