Tag: Matt Daniels

2 Vikings coordinators given high praise by players

Matt Daniels and Brian Flores received high praise from their players

After debuting the NFL team report last season, the NFL Players Association has taken things a step further by also surveying players to rate the coordinators they play for on a scale of 1-10. The results were gathered and the top five coordinators of each position group.

After over 1,700 players were surveyed, the Minnesota Vikings had two coordinators finish in the top five with Brian Flores finishing fourth among defensive coordinators and Matt Daniels finishing third among special teams coordinators.

Flores has been praised across the board for turning the Vikings defense around this season. In 2022, they were 31st in total defense and have improved to 16th in total defense and an astounding 12th in scoring defense.

Daniels has done an excellent job with the special teams unit during his two years with the Vikings. He is a rising star in the coaching ranks and it’s no surprise that he ended up in the top five.

The one coordinator who didn’t finish in the top five was offensive coordinator Wes Phillips. The information released doesn’t have anyone outside of the top five mentioned so we don’t know how he ranked among offensive coordinators.

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WATCH special teams coordinator Matt Daniels speak to the media

Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels spoke to the media about the state of the Minnesota Vikings special teams units.

Each day of training camp, someone from the Minnesota Vikings has spoken to the media. On Friday afternoon, that somebody was special teams coordinator Matt Daniels.

Special teams is a very important group on a football team. Their performance can make or break a game. Think about how many dynamite return men the Vikings have had over the years, including Kene Nwangwu.

The biggest takeaway from his press conference was that there is an open kicker competition with Greg Joseph and Jack Podlesny.

You can catch the entire press conference here.

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6 takeaways from Brian Flores’ press conference

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores took some time to speak to the media after organized team activities on Wednesday.

The Minnesota Vikings are firmly in phase three of organized team activities and things are getting more serious as time goes by.

The intensity has picked up as the team works to install the defense and continue the continuity on offense.

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores spoke with the media on Wednesday afternoon and spoke about his experience so far with the Vikings and OTAs.

Keenan McCardell and Matt Daniels to participate in NFL Coach Accelerator Program

The NFL Coach Accelerator Program enters it’s second year and will include two current and three former Minnesota Vikings assistants.

The National Football League has been implementing ways to improve diversity in hiring practices throughout the league. The latest program will be implemented at the spring meetings in Minneapolis this upcoming week May 21st-23rd.

In a press release from the NFL, the Coach Accelerator Program will include 40 participants viewed to be potential future head coaches. That list includes Minnesota Vikings wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell and special teams coordinator Matt Daniels. Here is what the press release said about the program.

The Coach Accelerator aims to increase exposure between owners, executives, and diverse coaching talent, providing ample opportunity to develop and build upon their relationships. In a change to the nomination process this year, clubs were able to nominate those from outside of their organization.

The 40 participants this year are attending based on their high potential to be considered for a Head Coach position in the future. Sixteen of the participants will be returning from the May 2022 Accelerator cohort.

In addition to networking, further development of the participants is a critical component of the accelerator, with curated content sessions scheduled that will further engage each participant on the advancement of their executive leadership skills and business acumen. 

Not only do the Vikings have two current coaches participating, but former head coach Leslie Frazier and former assistants Jerry Gray and Jerrod Johnson will also be participating.

2022 Minnesota Vikings Awards

After the Vikings season, we gave out awards to the best of the team

The Minnesota Vikings sadly had their season end in the NFC Wild Card round of the playoffs amid their successful regular season. Even though the season is over, there is still a lot the Vikings’ players can hang their hats on. So here at Vikings Wire, we’re going to hand out awards for them this season, much like the NFL does!

Vikings convert clever fake punt vs Saints

The Vikings went into their bag of tricks for this play

You don’t always see teams try to convert a fake punt but the Minnesota Vikings did just that on Sunday morning.

With the Vikings offense sputtering and struggling to string together successful drives, head coach Kevin O’Connell and special teams coordinator Matt Daniels decided to pull a trick out of their bag of goodies to try and spark the offense.

Vikings rookie punter Ryan Wright is a former high school quarterback and does a good job hitting rookie wide receiver Jalen Nailor for his first catch in the National Football League.

The drive continued after the conversion but stalled after a couple of penalties. That led to a Greg Joseph field goal to put the Vikings up 19-14.

The Vikings have spoken often about being more aggressive and trying to take advantage of situations and thy did just that on this fake punt.

Could kicker Greg Joseph have issues in Philadelphia?

The weather conditions could give Greg Joseph issues on Monday

The Minnesota Vikings seemed to have found their kicker in Greg Joseph. in the 23-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers, Joseph tied a team record by nailing a 56-yard field goal with absolute ease.

As the team heads to play the Eagles in Philadelphia on Monday night, Joseph could potentially be facing some challenges in kicking outdoors.

Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels is really high on Joseph.

This really isn’t a surprise, as Joseph has been kicking the ball well since the start of training camp. The conditions in Philadelphia could give him issues, as the winds like to swirl inside of Lincoln Financial Field.

For kickers, it isn’t as simple as kicking the ball straight on. The wind plays a major factor. Similar to hitting a driver off the tee box in golf, kickers often try to hit a fade or draw to use the wind to their advantage. What the swirling winds do for kickers is make it more difficult for them to make field goals from distance.

It should be interesting for Joseph on Monday night, but he has given us no reason to not trust him.

Kevin O’Connell adds three more assistants to Vikings coaching staff

Kevin O’Connell has been a busy man!

Everything is coming together for Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell as he continues adding to his growing coaching staff.

On Monday, the team confirmed the hiring of Wes Phillips as offensive coordinator and Matt Daniels as special teams coordinator, which have both already been reported on.

However, they also announced they were bringing back Daronte Jones as the defensive backs coach, along with the hiring of Ben Kotwica as an assistant special teams coach and Mike Smith as the outside linebackers and pass rush specialist.

These are exciting times for a Vikings team looking to kick-start a new era under their Super Bowl-winning head coach.

Jones served as a defensive backs coach for the Vikings during the Mike Zimmer era in 2020 before being offered a job as defensive coordinator for LSU. After a one-and-done season, he’s back in purple and ready to resume his role with the team.

Kotwica’s last job was a two-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons as special teams coordinator before he was ultimately fired in 2020. It’s important to note that he was with the Washington Commanders at the same time O’Connell was there as the quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator. So there’s clearly some familiarity there with the Vikings head coach.

And Smith, the former Green Bay Packers outside linebackers coach, is joining O’Connell with the added responsibility as a pass rush specialist. So the opportunity for a promotion after coaching the same position for the last four years had to be enticing for the former NFL linebacker.

We’ll see if it all pays off in the 2022 season.

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Vikings reportedly hiring Matt Daniels as special teams coordinator

Another former Los Angeles Ram has found his way to Minnesota.

The Minnesota Vikings have landed on Matt Daniels as their new special teams coordinator, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Newly-hired head coach Kevin O’Connell hasn’t even officially been with the team for more than a week, and he’s already hard at work, putting the finishing touches on his coaching staff.

Wes Phillips was hired on as the team’s new offensive coordinator on Sunday.

Daniels, a former undrafted NFL player, got his career started in coaching as an assistant special teams coach for the Los Angeles Rams back in 2018. However, his most recent stint was with the Dallas Cowboys over the last two seasons.

The Cowboys finished last season ranked sixth overall in Rick Gosselin’s Special Teams Rankings.

Meanwhile, the Vikings finished out the year with the 15th overall ranking. So there is some hope that Daniels can help the team improve in that area, while also receiving a promotion as a coach.

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Rams special teams assistant Matt Daniels follows John Fassel to Cowboys

Matt Daniels was on Sean McVay’s staff for two years after playing for the Rams from 2014-2015.

The hits keep coming for the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff. Having already lost John Fassel to the Cowboys and Jedd Fisch to the Patriots, another coach is also leaving Sean McVay’s group.

According to ESPN, Special teams assistant Matt Daniels is joining Mike McCarthy’s staff in Dallas, sticking with Fassel. The Rams also removed Daniels’ page from the team’s website.

Daniels was with the St. Louis Rams as a player from 2012-2014 before spending two years with the Jaguars and Chargers from 2014-2015. In 2018, he got his first job as a coach, joining the Rams and spending the last two years as a special teams assistant.

Daniels played under Fassel when he was with the Rams, so they obviously have a connection. Learning under Fassel is a good way for Daniels to develop as a coach and he’ll get the chance to continue doing that in Dallas.