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Vikings Officially Sign a Pair of Adds

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Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell at the Los Angeles Chargers on October 23rd, 2025.
Oct 23, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell during the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The 2026 offseason has featured great change for the Minnesota Vikings. Most notably, there has been the decision to fire GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah alongside the change that is yet to occur: the needed reinforcements at quarterback.

Swirling around these prominent stories — the GM and QB uncertainty — has been the various moves for the team’s coaching staff. Brian Flores was retained to be the DC, but his side of the ball got hollowed out by various coaches being stolen away from promotions. Likewise, the offense lost some talent while assistant head coach Mike Pettine retired. At the end of the week, Minnesota officially announced the two most recent adds.

Vikings Make Coaching Adds Official

The team’s official social media passing along the word means that the ink has been put down on paper.

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So, consider the news that got passed along: “The #Vikings have promoted Ryan Cordell to Tight Ends/Game Management Coordinator and hired Derek Warehime as Assistant Offensive Line coach.”

Nov 2, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell looks on during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Already, the news about shoring up the coaching help at tight end was out there in the world.

In Derek Warehime, the Vikings add another coach to help out along the front. He’ll partner with Keith Carter to lead the large lads who are tasked with winning in the trenches.

On a 53-man roster, a team commonly carries somewhere between eight and ten players for the offensive line (with more on the practice squad), so that could be roughly 20% of the roster all at one position. Having a pair to coach the spot therefore makes sense.

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Rolling into the ’26 season, the Vikings are facing ample pressure.

Coach O’Connell, in particular, is going to be sitting on a seat that’s getting warmer. He was retained while Adofo-Mensah wasn’t, breaking up the twosome that got added in 2022. In fact, Adofo-Mensah was hired before O’Connell, but the coach has survived longer than the executive.

Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah talking on the sideline
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah share a brief sideline exchange at Allegiant Stadium during the Dec 10, 2023 matchup in Las Vegas. The moment reflects in-game collaboration between Minnesota’s top decision-makers, capturing communication and alignment as the Vikings managed strategy, adjustments, and broader organizational direction against the Raiders. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

O’Connell’s task involves responding to Minnesota’s underwhelming, injury-filled 2025 that resulted outside of the playoffs due to a 9-8 record. A major part of the problem was what took place at quarterback, with the injuries depleting Minnesota’s quarterback depth.

Something that would make a major difference is revitalizing the run game. Or, at least, feigning interest in committing to the run game.

Daniel House commented on the new add to help along the o-line, making a connection to running the ball: “Coastal Carolina ran a mix of zone and pulling gap schemes. QB run game elements too. They also had a solid screen game, which is an area he may be able to help as well. It’s clear that KOC has made a strong commitment to bringing in more run game perspectives.”

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Lately, the Vikings have more been known for wide-zone running — picture the gliding, elusive Dalvin Cook going horizontal before putting hit foot in the dirt to explode through an open crease (Jordan Mason can do this, too) — but layering in some “pulling gap” would be a nice change up built on rugged physicality and power. At times, Donovan Jackson showed off an ability to pull, and Will Fries was signed largely due to being pretty mean.

Minnesota, like all teams, will do different things but will need to ensure that balance exists between run and pass. At worst, running allows the offensive linemen to fire off the ball rather than needing to constantly be on their heels to withstand the pass rush. At best, running allows a team to chew up clock by grinding out first downs, helping to set up explosive passes while making life easier for the defense, too.

Vikings RB Aaron Jones in 2024 at Lambeauf Field against the Green Bay Packers
Sep 29, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) reacts after earning a first down during the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Vikings’ coaching staff may yet get another add or two. Unlike the roster, the coaching staff doesn’t have a salary cap, so money shouldn’t be an issue.


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Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

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Current World Heavyweight Champion Wants to Face AEW’s MJF After Nearly Two Years

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The current AEW World Champion, MJF, has been offered a match by another current World champion outside Tony Khan’s promotion. The two have wrestled each other nearly two years ago.

The current CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, Hechicero wants to face the current AEW World Champion, Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Hechicero captured the CMLL World title from Claudio Castagnoli at Arena Mexico recently. He is also under a dual contract with both Lucha Libre CMLL and All Elite Wrestling.

At the Forbidden Door event back in 2024, Hechicero squared off against MJF for the first time. The match went on for nearly 10 minutes, and Max secured the win over the CMLL veteran. Meanwhile, Hechicero wants to get in the ring with The Salt of the Earth yet again.

During his interview with The Takedown on SI, Hechicero said it would be great to take on MJF, as he is the World Champion in Tony Khan’s promotion. Hechicero also wants a rematch with Claudio Castagnoli after capturing the CMLL World title from him recently:

“I aspire to the highest level as CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. First of all, MJF is the company’s world champion, it would be really great to face him. Also, Claudio Castagnoli, it would be great to have a rematch against him because he did so well,” said Hechicero. [H/T WrestleTalk]


MJF is set for a huge title defense at AEW Dynasty

MJF has been the AEW World Champion since December 2025 and has had multiple successful title defenses until now. At the upcoming Dynasty 2026 pay-per-view, Max will defend his World title against Kenny Omega.

Ahead of the big match, MJF and Kenny came face-to-face for a contract signing segment on Dynamite this week. Max also defeated Speedball Mike Bailey in the main event of the show.

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It will be interesting to see if MJF manages to retain his World title against Kenny Omega at Dynasty.