You can add another name to the list of possible head coaching candidates for the Minnesota Vikings. The NY Daily News Sports’ Pat Leonard is reporting New York Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will interview virtually for the Vikings job on Saturday.
Graham has spent the last two seasons serving as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Giants, but he truly cut his teeth as a defensive assistant under the tutelage of Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots.
He served as the team’s linebackers’ coach when they defeated the Seattle Seahawks at Super Bowl XLIX in the 2014 season. You can actually trace his major coaching roots all the way back to 2002 at Wagner College, but he has spent the last 13 years coaching in the NFL in at least some capacity.
So he’d come into Minnesota as one of the more experienced candidates that have yet to receive a head coaching opportunity.
Giants DC Pat Graham will interview virtually for Minnesota Vikings head coaching vacancy tomorrow, I’m told.
Graham (Jets interested last year) interviewed for Giants HC in person Wed, Steelers DC in person Thurs. Now Minny.@JFowlerESPN 1st on Graham as a Vikes name to watch
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) January 28, 2022
Some of the other names on the list are Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.
Newly-hired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is expected to be deeply involved in the hiring process, but there is no word on whether he’ll have the final say on the matter.
