Vikings hire Eagles QB coach John DeFilippo as offensive coordinator
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Vikings have their new offensive coordinator.
Hours after the Eagles wrapped up a day of celebration with their Super Bowl victory parade in Philadelphia, quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo was hired by the Vikings to take over OC duties.
The team officially announced the move Friday morning.
"We are very excited to add John to our staff," head coach Mike Zimmer said in a statement. "We took our time with the search and made sure we left no stone unturned to get the right fit. He has a track record of success and has proven to be a great teacher. We feel John will have good chemistry with our team and we are all eager to get to work."
The Vikings had purpose in waiting until after the Super Bowl to make a hire. Former offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was announced as the New York Giants head coach on Jan. 22 -- the day after the Vikings lost the NFC Championship to the Eagles.
Four days later, as Shurmur was making his first news conference with the Giants, Zimmer began conducting interviews for his replacement at his ranch in Northern Kentucky.
Minnesota interviewed four candidates ahead of Super Bowl week, including Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski, former Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, Saints assistant coach/tight ends Dan Campbell and Texans quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan.
DeFilippo's contract originally ran through next Wednesday, but the Eagles granted him permission to meet with the Vikings on Thursday. In turn, Minnesota didn't waste any time in securing its new offensive coordinator.
For the past two seasons, DeFilippo worked with the quarterbacks in Philadelphia and helped Carson Wentz develop into an MVP candidate before he tore his ACL in Week 14. DeFilippo worked wonders with backup QB Nick Foles, who led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl win last Sunday while earning game MVP honors.
"Coach Flip, he's a grinder," Foles said Monday. "Barely sleeps. Fundamentals, giving us the game plan, giving us all our checks, extremely detailed. I'm grateful for him. He's done an amazing job this year. It's not easy when your franchise quarterback goes down. But the great thing about our team and our coaching staff is they work so well together, and they do it all together. ... We're very fortunate as players to have such a great coaching staff."
DeFilippo was one of a few candidates for Minnesota's opening with playcalling experience. Back in 2015, he served as Cleveland's offensive coordinator.
If the Eagles make another Super Bowl run next season, they might have to do it without another key piece on offense. Philadelphia OC Frank Reich is a candidate for the Colts' head coach opening that became vacant this week after Josh McDaniels decided to remain as offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots.
In Minnesota, DeFilippo will have the keys to the Vikings' offense, whereas in Philadelphia, a promotion to OC if Reich were to leave might not yield the same freedom. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson holds playcalling duties on game days.
Now that the Vikings have their offensive coordinator in place, the focus will soon shift toward finding their quarterback for 2018. General manager Rick Spielman said last week that the next OC will play a role in determining which quarterback will lead the Vikings next season.
DeFilippo said on Friday that he has experience in that area after helping the Raiders identify Derek Carr in 2014 and Wentz in 2016 as a quarterbacks coach.
"I'm going to have some say and I'm going to have as much say as they want me to. I'm a team player. Whatever they ask me to do in terms of researching the players we're going to research, I'm going to leave no stone unturned," DeFilippo said. "So as much or as little input as they want, I'll give them. But I know whatever information I give them will be very educated and very researched."
ESPN's Kevin Seifert contributed to this report.
