Minnesota Vikings fire offensive coordinator John DeFilippo
Wednesday 12 December 2018 11:38, UK
The Minnesota Vikings have fired first-year offensive coordinator John DeFilippo.
The move comes after the Vikings' 21-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, the team's third defeat in their past four games.
The Vikings finished the game with 276 yards of total offense, after managing just 61 in the first half.
It was the fourth time in the past five games that the Vikings have finished with less than 300 yards total offense.
Quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski has been elevated to interim offensive coordinator and will take over play-calling duties for the Vikings.
The Vikings entered November with a top-10 offense but have dropped to 17th after Monday night's loss.
Head coach Mike Zimmer had been critical of DeFilippo's play-calling recently, saying that the Vikings have not been committed enough to the running game.
The Vikings rank 30th in the NFL in rushing yards per game with 85.4, while averaging just 4.1 yards per carry.
Running back Dalvin Cook rushed 13 times for 55 yards against the Seahawks, just the second time this season Cook has had more than 10 carries.
The Vikings (6-6-1) are vying for a wild-card spot and host the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
"I just didn't think we were making enough advancement in this part of the season to continue to go forward the way we want to go forward," Zimmer said.
"I just didn't think we were making enough advancement in this part of the season to continue to go forward the way we want to go forward."
"I'm not going to get into specifics about some of the things. I just felt it was in the best interest of the team to make this move now."
The Vikings hired DeFilippo, 40, in February to replace Pat Shurmur, who left to become the head coach of the New York Giants.
When Shurmur left for that job, he attempted to hire Stefanski as Giants offensive coordinator. The Vikings blocked the move, but Stefanski's contract is set to expire at the end of the season.
He is the son of Detroit Pistons general manager Ed Stefanski.
DeFilippo spent two seasons as quarterbacks coach with the Philadelphia Eagles and was previously offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns.
