The Vikings conducted virtual interviews with eight head coaching candidates before they hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their general manager this week. They will speak with a ninth candidate on Saturday.
Giants' Patrick Graham will be Vikings' next interview for head coach
The defensive coordinator will have a virtual interview with the team Saturday, as the first candidate added to the Vikings' list since Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was hired as GM.
January 28, 2022 at 11:51PM
Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will have a virtual interview with the team on Saturday, according to two league sources. Graham joined Joe Judge's staff with the Giants in 2020, after working for Brian Flores in Miami in 2019. He spent seven years with the Patriots, starting as a coaching assistant in 2009 and moving up to linebackers coach by the end of his run in New England.
Judge was fired Jan. 11 and replaced Friday by Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Graham, who turned 43 this week, is believed to have a strong relationship with Adofo-Mensah, and is the first candidate added to the Vikings' interview list since the team hired its new GM on Wednesday. Graham joins the Vikings' pool of candidates as several of their initial targets move on to other jobs.
The Broncos hired former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett — the first candidate to interview with the Vikings — as their next head coach on Thursday. Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn signed a new deal to stay in Dallas, and Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore reportedly has a second interview with the Dolphins in their search for Flores' replacement.
Remaining from the Vikings' initial interview list are: Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell, Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
