The Cleveland Browns already have three high-level direct connections to the Minnesota Vikings going into the 2022 NFL season.
- Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski spent over a decade with the Vikings before taking the job in Cleveland.
- Minnesota GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah just spent two seasons with the Browns before being hired by the Vikings for their top job.
- Finally, former Browns QB coach Kevin O’Connell is expected to be announced as the team’s head coach following the Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl appearance.
That may not be the end of the two team’s connections. Adofo-Mensah could look to raid the Cleveland front office but those moves generally happen after the NFL draft.
O’Connell could look to his past with the Browns to find some of his coaching staff. During his one season with the team in 2015, O’Connell was under offensive coordinator John DeFilippo who had just replaced Kyle Shanahan.
DeFilippo has bounced around the league quite a bit since his one year in Cleveland, last as the Chicago Bears QB coach under Matt Nagy. He has already spent time with the Vikings where he was replaced in-season as offensive coordinator by Stefanski. A return to Minnesota might be a tough fit but possible under a new regime.
Joker Phillips was also on that 2015 Browns staff but returned to the college ranks, where he spent a majority of his career, after not being retained.
O’Connell’s head coach Mike Pettine could be the most likely reunion in Minnesota. The former defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers has been linked to the Vikings defensive coordinator position:
With Kevin O'Connell going to Vikings, I keep hearing Mike Pettine as the likely DC there.
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) February 4, 2022
Pettine spent three seasons with the Packers before being let go and spent last year helping Nagy with the Bears.