The Minnesota Vikings are officially hiring longtime defensive coach Ed Donatell as their next defensive coordinator.
Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune confirmed the news from a league source on Thursday.
There was talk on Wednesday of the team leaning in the direction of hiring the former Denver Broncos defensive coordinator. Donatell was expected to continue working as an assistant for the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, but that pairing obviously went up in smoke once he learned of the job with the Vikings.
This is actually a solid hiring considering how well the Broncos played on defense under Donatell last season. He’s an experienced coach with a strong track record of getting the most out of the players around him.
That’s obviously much-needed in Minnesota right now with a defense that ranked as the second-worst in the league this season. Injuries obviously played a role, and there are some key personnel moves that still need to be made.
But assuming newly-hired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knocks it out of the park on the personnel side of things, Donatell could be the injection of life the slumbering Vikings defense has been waiting for.
