Before the Chicago Bears can even start thinking about the Super Bowl, they have to find a way to win their division. The NFC North might be the most stacked in the league. Detroit has the always-pesky Matthew Stafford and his late-game magic. Green Bay is Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers set to return. Last but not least there’s the reigning champion Minnesota Vikings fresh off an NFC championship birth.
They are closer to the Super Bowl than any team in this division right now. So what they do should be of great interest to the Bears. It just so happens there is a reason to have interest. They just lost their offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur, to a head coaching job in New York. Not only is that slot vacant, but soon their entire quarterback roster will be as well.
It didn’t take long for the first domino to drop. Minnesota took their time in weighing their replacement options for Shurmur. In the end, they ironically went down the same route that got him in the first place. In doing so they added a layer of intrigue for the Bears.
Minnesota Vikings make John DeFilippo their new offensive coordinator
Say this for Vikings GM Rick Spielman. He clearly has a healthy respect for how the Philadelphia Eagles do business. His team traded for Sam Bradford from Philly back in 2016. That was also the same year they got Shurmur on their coaching staff, mere weeks after he’d been fired by the Eagles. Now here they are bringing another former Eagle in to take his place.
Subscribe to the BFR podcast and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Vikings are hiring former Eagles’ QB coach John DeFilippo as their OC, per source.
Super Bowl brain drain underway in Philadelphia.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 9, 2018
DeFilippo has become one of the media darlings of the NFL coaching world. He’s young, sharp and is fresh off doing some impressive work with the Philadelphia quarterbacks en route to a Super Bowl championship. The Vikings should know. Nick Foles, whom DeFilippo coached, torched them for three touchdowns and 352 yards in the NFC title game.
In essence, the Vikings looked to weaken their biggest competition in the NFC by taking away one of their key coaches. Not a bad strategy. At the same time, DeFilippo doesn’t have near the credibility as an offensive coordinator as Shurmur did. He’s held that position for just one season back in 2015 with the Cleveland Browns. The team finished 3-13 and 30th in points scored. He suffered from major question marks at quarterback with Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, and Austin Davis being his options.
DeFilippo hire muddles what Vikings will do at QB
Knee-jerk responses would say DeFilippo joining Minnesota means they are now the favorites to trade for Foles from Philadelphia. However, that is far from a sure thing. Beyond that, it’s unclear which direction they’ll go. Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Bradford are all free agents this March.
DeFilippo coached Bradford briefly in 2016 before he was traded to Minnesota. So there’s that. His familiarity with the run-pass option offense could make Bradford and Keenum viable options to keep. Bridgewater is a possibility depending on how healthy that knee is. It’s clear the Vikings wanted somebody who could maintain some degree of cohesion to their system that worked so well this past season.
It also may even be a crafty ploy to lure pending free agent Kirk Cousins north. He saw DeFilippo’s handiwork up close four times over the past two years when the Eagles played the Redskins. Combine that with the strong Vikings roster and it’s a pretty easy sell.
One thing is for sure, they may not be able to keep DeFilippo for long. He was a hot candidate for a head coaching job in 2018. The Bears were among the teams that interviewed him. If the Vikings offense does well this season, he’s almost certain to get scooped by someone.
