It’s no secret that Vikings coach Mike Zimmer likes to hire people with whom he’s familiar. It’s how he’s filled out his coaching staff ever since arriving in Minnesota.
Whether it’s Gary Kubiak on offense or Dom Capers on defensie, Zimmer loves to surround himself with people he’s either coached with or coached against in the past.
Which explains why the Vikings officially hired Paul Guenther as a senior defensive assistant on Thursday.
It’s a reunion for Zimmer and Guenther nearly a decade in the making. They coached together with the Cincinnati Bengals years ago, and when the Vikings hired Zimmer to be their coach, Guenther took actually over as defensive coordinator in Cincinnati.
Most recently, Guenther served as defensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders. He was fired in the middle of last season after a 44-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14.
“Just real excited to be here,” Guenther said of the Vikings. “I’m real familiar with (Zimmer’s) core values and the way he runs the team. Just real excited to be joining forces again.”
Asked what he will be doing in his current role, Guenther confirmed he will be helping out with all three levels of the defense — the line, linebackers and secondary. He has experience coaching all positions, so he should be a useful sounding board for co-defensive coordinators Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer.
As for getting to work with the elder Zimmer once again, Guenther seemed thrilled about the opportunity.
“He’s probably more stubborn now,” Guenther said with a laugh. “No, he is a great football coach, has got great core values. Not much has changed. You see a lot of guys become head coaches and change, and Mike has really been the same strong guy, strong football coach, strong man that I once knew when we worked together. I’m excited to be back with him.”
BRIEFLY
In addition to Guenther, the Vikings also officially hired Karl Scott as defensive backs coach on Thursday. He takes over for Daronte Jones, who left to become defensive coordinator at LSU.
“Me and Coach Zimmer’s philosophy on defensive back play very much align, as far as what we like and what we look for in a defensive back,” said Scott, who previously coached defensive backs at Alabama. “I’m definitely looking forward to the opportunity ahead of us.”
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Vikings hire Mike Zimmer’s former colleague Paul Guenther as defensive assistant - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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