Minnesota Vikings: 3 Candidates for vacant defensive coordinator position

With the Minnesota Vikings parting ways with defensive coordinator George Edwards, here are three potential candidates to fill the now vacant position.

Shortly after the Minnesota Vikings found out they would need to search for a new offensive coordinator, the Vikings decided they would also look for a new coordinator on the defensive side of the ball.

A few days after Kevin Stefanski alerted Minnesota that he would be leaving the organization as its offensive coordinator to take the head coaching position with the Cleveland Browns, the Vikings parted ways with their defensive coordinator, George Edwards.

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter broke the news on social media this week not long after Minnesota fell to the San Francisco 49ers, 27-10, in the NFC Divisional Round of the playoffs that ultimately ended the Vikings’ season, stating Edwards was “not expected to return to Minnesota for next season.”

In the following days, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer confirmed those reports from Schefter in his season-ending press conference with the local media, stating that the two sides have indeed agreed to part ways.

Edwards completed his sixth season in Minnesota as the organization’s defensive coordinator in 2019, helping lead a defensive unit that has been near the top of the NFL in multiple categories basically since he took the position with the purple and gold.

Edwards, who turns 54 years old in January, has spent time with three different teams — including Minnesota — as a defensive coordinator in his coaching career. He was the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins in 2003 and serves as the Buffalo Bills’ defensive coordinator from 2010 to 2011 prior to coming to the Vikings.

Throughout the regular season, Edwards helped coach up a defensive group that ranked

Following the 2019 campaign, which saw Minnesota take somewhat of a step back on the defensive side of the ball, the Vikings decided it was best to part ways with the long-time coordinator while beginning a search for a new candidate to fill that position.

With Edwards out as defensive coordinator for the Vikings, let’s take a look at who Minnesota could look to for its now-vacant defensive coordinator position as it prepares for the 2020 season.