Revealed; Vikings Part Ways With Coach Midseason.
Before news of his official hiring by Clemson as a defensive ends coach on December 4, there had been little information on the whereabouts of Chris Rumph, the defensive line coach for the Minnesota Vikings, who had been on “personal leave” since October.
Rumph and the Vikings had split up in the middle of the season, according to Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune, who also noted that Rumph had been hired.
In the midst of his first season under coordinator Brian Flores, Rumph was cut by the Vikings in the final year of his contract, according to a league source, Krammer wrote on December 4.
Two defensive position coaches are on leave this season: Rumph, who joined the Vikings in 2022 under former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, is one of them. Mike Smith, a linebacker and pass rush specialist, announced his resignation from the team just six days prior to the start of the regular season.
Alongside assistant head coach Mike Pettine, Patrick Hill, an assistant defensive line coach, has taken over for Rumph. Hill was hired in the offseason after working as a defensive analyst for LSU in 2022, giving him ten years of coaching experience.
“I adore Chris Rumph,” O’Connell declared in an ESPN piece published on October 22 following Rumph’s departure. “He means the world to me. He was one of the first coaches I hired here.”
Rumph returns to Clemson, where he served as the D-line coach from 2006 to 2010, to begin the following season.
As reported by the Charlotte Observer, Rumph stated in a statement, “For me, this is coming home.” “My family and I are a perfect fit for Clemson because of the town and the people here.”
Unbelievably, Brian Flores has achieved extraordinary success with the Vikings defense.
Flores has created a brand-new defensive scheme—a six-man front with zone coverages behind it—that hasn’t been seen in the NFL before, and it has altered his players’ perceptions of what they can accomplish on the football field.
Safety Harrison Smith said, “You’re programmed to think that there’s these buckets of defenses,” to Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “While everyone has their own style, Flores’ plan kind of goes against the idea that you can only do certain things with 11 guys.” Even if they aren’t regulations, you simply cannot play the game without adhering to its rules. It’s just the way that we’ve all been conditioned to think throughout the years. It’s been quite enjoyable to discover that you can actually accomplish more.
For a defense that might have deteriorated with the departures of Patrick Peterson, Eric Kendricks, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Za’Darius Smith, the new approach has proven beneficial.
after finishing last season’s points allowed in 28th place. In Flores’ first season as defensive coordinator, the Vikings defense is ranked seventh in scoring through 12 games.
The Vikings’ defense makes a difference by reversing the blitz.
It was anticipated when Flores arrived that the defense would adopt his aggressive, blitz-heavy play-calling approach, and that has turned out to be the case.
According to Pro Football Reference, the Vikings have the highest blitz percentage in the NFL this season at 46.7%. However, Flores reduced his blitzing midseason since the defense was being gashed much too frequently.
The Vikings dominated on 63% of defensive snaps through the first three weeks of play, which is a record high for ESPN dating back to 2006. During the first month of the season, the defense gave up 259 yards rushing to the Philadelphia Eagles and 445 yards passing to the Los Angeles Chargers in back-to-back weeks.
Since then, the defense has continued to be aggressive and has mixed in new looks and packages, blitzing 41.2% of the time, according to ESPN. Reducing planned strain has made space for other packages to flourish.
The defense is using a three-man rush twice as frequently as any other team, but the six-man rush is still the Vikings’ go-to tactic, being used three times as often as the next-highest club and five times more than the NFL average. During those rushes, the Vikings have corraled five sacks and three interceptions while dropping eight guys into coverage.
“On occasion, the suggested danger of it can be equally effective as the actual pressure,” Pettine stated to ESPN. “I believe Flo is in a terrific position there.
The process involved attempting to identify our identities and potential false identities. I believe we identified the problem team and focused on a certain portion of the product. Certain actions we’ve taken have curtailed the severity of some infractions. Teams have been compelled to adapt, which is a positive development.
