Kevin Stefanski will return to the Minnesota Vikings as the club's permanent offensive coordinator after losing out on the Cleveland Browns head coaching job.
Stefanski, the Vikings' longest tenured assistant, will get the permanent job after finishing the 2018-19 season as the team's interim offensive coordinator.
The 36-year-old Stefanski was promoted Dec. 11 to replace John DeFilippo, who was fired in his first season on the job with the Vikings struggling badly to move the ball. Stefanski's contract expired Tuesday.
The Vikings announced his hiring Wednesday. He's the fourth offensive coordinator under coach Mike Zimmer, who just finished his fifth year..
The Browns opted to promote their current offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens to head coach, likely based on his close relationship with young QB Baker Mayfield.
Stefanski has been with the Vikings since 2006, first signing on as the team's quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to offensive coordinator late in the 2018-19 season after John DeFillipo was unceremoniously dumped. The Vikings leaned more heavily on the ground game once Stefanski took control of the offense, and showed improvement before a terrible performance in the final game of the season cost the ball club a playoff slot.
