Minnesota Vikings

Vikings hire Kevin Stefanski as offensive coordinator

Published Jan. 9, 2019 3:43 p.m. ET

The Minnesota Vikings officially named Kevin Stefanski their offensive coordinator for the 2019 season Wednesday afternoon.

Stefanski will be the fourth offensive coordinator to coach under Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer in five seasons.

“Kevin is a smart young coach with a bright future,” Zimmer said in a press release. “I’m happy to have him take over the offensive coordinator job. His work ethic and teaching ability have been obvious to me behind the scenes since I came here five years ago. He’s well respected by coaches and players both and I know he’s up to the task.”

Stefanski filled in at offensive coordinator for Minnesota’s final three games after John DeFilippo was fired. The Vikings won two of those contests, averaging 26 points per game under Stefanski.

"I was thrilled to hear that he'd be back," quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "We feel like the continuity is very important, not only for me at the quarterback position but for our entire offense, for the young players learning the system and for our coaching staff to have the familiarity, as well."

The 36-year-old coach has been in the Vikings organization since he was responsible for administrative duties and special projects under Brad Childress from 2006-08. He’s also served as assistant quarterbacks coach (2009-13), tight ends coach (2014-15), running backs coach (2016) and quarterbacks coach (2017-18) for the purple.

"When we get back, we're going to be 110 percent in for him," running back Dalvin Cook said. "Everything we're going to do, we're going to have fun. But we're going to raise the bar up to his level."

Stefanski was reportedly a finalist for Cleveland’s head coaching position, but the Browns opted to hire Freddie Kitchens instead.