John DeFilippo will, in fact, be looking for a job this offseason — perhaps just not the head-coaching vacancies he was once expected to be in line for.
The Vikings fired DeFilippo as their offensive coordinator Tuesday in a staggering fall for the coach who not long ago was seen as the next big thing.
DeFilippo was the Eagles’ quarterback coach in 2016-17 before taking over as the Vikings’ offensive coordinator this fall. But under his watch, they have plummeted from a Super Bowl contender to barely hanging on to a playoff spot. After losing to the Seahawks 21-7 Monday night, they are 6-6-1.
All this with a quarterback who is guaranteed $84 million in Kirk Cousins, their enormous offseason splash who is engineering the 20th-ranked scoring offense in the NFL. The unit has fallen flat even with star weapons for Cousins in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
The Jets reportedly tried to interview DeFilippo for their offensive coordinator job last offseason but the Eagles denied them permission before he eventually landed with the Vikings.
Quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski — whom the Vikings reportedly blocked from interviewing for the Giants’ offensive coordinator job under Pat Shurmur — will serve as the interim offensive coordinator.