Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Jordy McElroy

Deshea Townsend has change of heart, spurns Vikings for Jaguars

File this one under the category of things no one thought would happen on Super Bowl weekend. After being expected to be hired by the Minnesota Vikings, secondary coach Deshea Townsend is now reportedly joining head coach Doug Pederson and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport broke the news on Sunday and cited a “change of heart” as the reasoning for the flip-flop decision.

Pederson, who ruined the Vikings’ Super Bowl hopes in the 2017 NFC Championship game, hasn’t even been back in the league for two weeks, and he’s already back to being a thorn in their side.

Townsend has worked with the Chicago Bears for the last three seasons and contributed to their team having one of the best passing defenses in the league.

But he found himself on the outs with the team after Matt Nagy was fired and Matt Eberflus was named as the new head coach.

The Vikings are a team that desperately needs help on the backend of their defense, and there was hope Townsend could help them turn a corner.

Instead, he’ll move on to Pederson and the Jaguars, while the Vikings continue their search for a new secondary coach.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.