I think he has a way of making everyone feel like they're important because he makes you challenge your thoughts. You know, he asked you to why. So he's been great with us. Kevin has done a really good job sitting down with us with the position coaches and kind of talking through what they're looking for in players. And I think that is the most important first conversation we can have. This is the last Minnesota Vikings podcast in
the month of February in twenty twenty two. That sounds absolutely crazy to say, because I feel like with March around the Quarner, February was just a blink because of all the things that I've been happening within the Minnesota Vikings organization. Thanks for listening to the podcast. I'm your host, Tatum Everett. Gabe Henderson's enjoying a little R and R. But we do have our producer Jay Nelson here with me in the TCO radio room. And Jay, it is
really hard to believe that it's already March. People talk about warp speed over the last couple of years, it just feels like it's continuing at this point. I know that's definitely something when you get older, it happens even more.
But I would think, you know, you saw the memes at the end of the year saying welcome to twenty twenty two, and everyone's like, what happened to twenty twenty Like just we're at the point again where hey, guess what, the NFL season's over and reset button and we're just kind of often sprinting at the shore. And when you have such a turnover in staff like we've had this off season, I think it almost makes it more amplified. It was a lot of hurry up and wait, hurry
up and wait. And really, you know, new GM quasi A Dopamenza has only been on the job for twenty thirty days now almost I think he's got to his thirty day mark. Yeah, I mean, it's just insane. Well, but it's funny you think about that and you say, yeah,
it's thirty days. Where have those thirty days gone? I mean, the hurry up and weight factor was kind of as an organization, once they made the decision to move on, you're kind of anticipating and waiting and you know who's going to be in, different people coming in, and then they finally make the decision, they bring in Quacy and it's like, Okay, hit the ground running because we got a bunch of stuff to do. But then we were still waiting for head coach and then we're like, are
we gonna make the decision now? Or we ended up waiting because he was in the Super Bowl winning a ring. So because of all of that stuff, like you said, hurry up and wait anticipation and then pull back, and then we finally, you know, make the decision with the head coach. It's been a really weird offseason and that all of a sudden, here we are a couple days away from the combine starting and the twenty twenty two league year basically resetting right away. Of course, because March
does mean that the NFL combine is here. I keep going back to a guy like Bill Belichick because he always had the thing that you would always just kind of roll your eyes and say, why do you feel that way? But you get it. They get done winning a super Bowl and they'd say, you know, how do you feel about winning the Super Bowl? And he's like, we're six weeks behind our draft prep at this point. You're just like, can you not just enjoy the fact
you won another Super Bowl? Or in one. Now you kind of get a little bit of a taste of what that's like. Where other people have already been planning for the last month and a half. You gotta imagine that's kind of a little bit what Kevin fields right right now is that he's like the high of winning. He is in the Super Bowl parade on a Wednesday, and the introduces a head coach of a new organization on Thursday morning, and you've got to assemble your staff
and as you said, get ready for the combine. I mean, he's going to be a head coach for a week and a half before going to the Combine. It's just crazy. It's just crazy. But I mean as crazy as it's also very exciting to see this new coaching staff embark
on assembling the best roster absolutely possible. But you know, there are several people behind the scenes that have been hard at work in the scouting process while the team was hiring, and we were lucky enough Jay to talk to two of those guys, and they'll be our guests in this week's podcast. Vikings co directors of player Personnel Ryan Munnins and Jamal Stevenson, two guys that have been around for a very long time, been a part of
this organization at different levels. But to a t you start asking people have been around for a while and know who these guys are. They are consummate professionals and it's really great to be able to talk to them today. Yeah, speaking with Quacy earlier this week, he says he feels very lucky to have those guys on his side. And you know, when you're the GM, I think everyone is always a little worried about turnover and what their vision
is going to be. But it just feels like he meshes very well with the player personnel staff that the Vikings have. But I think that's also a testament to what that department has created over the years. They've always been a group that's been willing to kind of be innovative and try to do whatever they can to find
the information they need to make a good decision. So it feels like when they came in there, it was just something where they have this established feeling where everyone kind of understands what their roles are, they know what they're supposed to do. They've definitely shown over the years that they've found a lot of really good talent that have come on to this team. So the fact that they both kind of come from different backgrounds yet are seen as the main two people to help lead this
group that is so critical right now. Again, it's just great to have them on the show to kind of pick their brains a little bit about what really happens behind the scenes. Dare I say a word that we've heard a lot of lately. Do they collaborate really well?
Very well? And I just I really do feel like the fact that the very tongue in cheek obviously, but that's the thing is, you can say a tongue in cheek, but it really is a big deal, especially for those guys, because they have to understand kind of where each other's coming from. They have to be able to throw out ideas and kind of have almost a shorthand, especially with
a brand new group coming in right. The adaptability piece of all of that is something that you know, there have been several coaches changes while these guys were here, yet they are still around doing the Lord's work for the Vikings. You know, you're dealing with not only the coaching turnover that is kind of a normal thing annually. There's always some additions and subtractions. But not only are you doing almost an entire coaching staff change, but the
GM change too. And I think for those guys, they're trying to figure out how to read the tea leaves of you know, what does each group want, and just to kind of figure out, like, how do we thread the needle of finding the kind of players that not only the GM is kind of looking for, but all of the coaches as well, and taking all that input on top of having to evaluate hundreds and hundreds of players that are potential candidates to be on this roster.
So they're both incredibly good at what they do, and all of the support staff they have behind them are also very very good at their jobs, and so you know, we're in good hands. It's just nice that it feels like there's a bit of a mesh going on there between kind of the old school and the new school of people coming in the door. Yeah, I think that's a lot of questions fans have, you know, how is this relationship going to coexist and work for the success
of this team moving forward? And I think you're definitely want to continue listening because I think they gave a very good perspective and behind the scenes look as to what they do on a day to day basis, but as well as like how they are getting along with the new staff and how they plan on collaborating moving forward in this scouting process. But first, before we get to that interview, you know new head coach Kevin O'Connell.
We got to hear from him again this week as he introduced his three new coordinators yesterday, and well, I just thought, Jay, that we just go and break it down name by name instead of saying them all at one time. So we'll go in the order of the press conferences. So we started out with defensive coordinator Ed Dontel, who is a Super Bowl winner in and of himself. He had two rings with the Broncos. He's been a
defensive coordinator for three other teams. He comes in with this wealth of experience that's kind of his resume in like very fast form. So, Jay, what was your impressions of him after hearing from him as one of those guys watching his press conference. I kind of just the vibe that was coming off him was, oh, yeah, this is what definitely one of those defensive coaches, kind of the excitable guy who loves just loves and eats and
sleeps and breathes football. You know, it's funny. I joked yesterday and I said, this guy is somebody who was going to be a football coach, yes, whether he wanted to or not, because that is the personality he was going to be coaching something something, some sort of motivational speaker, coach, whatever.
It was. Just Ed's kind of got that that flavor it and it feels like from all of the reviews after all the years of being in football, you know, that's kind of the m o of what people talk about is infectious energy and kind of a motivating guy that can get the best out of his players. So watching the press conference, what was really interesting to me was he was just as we just described, excited to
join it. And part of the thing that he cited was when he was meeting with Kevin and Quasi's just to try to get the job in the first place. The vision, the goals of what they talked about, and kind of this whole idea of looking for somebody who's willing to participate, to listen, to motivate, and Ed was very very cognizant of the fact that he's like that's what I want to do. That is my goal. That is what I try to do as a coach. And you know, the thing that jumped out of me. He
was basically saying, nobody's going to have more fun than us. Yeah. I like that. That was the thing when when he was again, that's that positive, infectious energy. And you know, he got a lot of questions because he's worked in a lot of three four systems, a lot of people were asking him, well, we're going to run four three three four, and he kind of said yes, well, he
said yeah, above all of the above. Yeah, And you know I asked him that same question and the impression that I got from him because we're going to release some more interviews next week with him, so you get to know more of what he says through the Viking's Entertainment network. But I think it's important to note that he has been around for a very long time thirty one years in the coaching industry, and so you don't like and he said this in his press conference, but
I've always kind of believed this as well. You don't stick around in this coaching industry if you can't adapt and move with the times. And that's exactly what he harped on. So I think it's very important to ask the question, what scheme are you planning on running? But I also think that at this point time, Ed is just showing that he is fluid. Like he's worked in the three four for the last eleven years, but before that when even he was with the Packers and with
Atlanta he ran a four three. He's not unfamiliar with
these concepts. So if we're going off of what they're saying, impressors what Kevin O'Connell has been saying, it sounds like they are willing to run the best scheme for the players they have, whether or not it's what they essentially want to Yeah, and he cited the fact that it's something that's talked about in all circles across the NFL at this point, the fact that most teams end up having to run Nickel a ton and so he's just looking at saying, yeah, we can run Nickel out of
four three. You're going to run Nickel out of three four. And he was basically saying the league will help dictate and the offense we play against will help dictate what we're going to do. And I think for a guy like ed his goal on his side with his coaches is to identify what players are going to fit best for that flexibility. So it was just something that he also talked about the fact that he won to see
people grow as players and people. There was a very conscientious feeling on his side of saying, my goal is to connect with these players as best as possible, to figure out what motivates them and to get the best out of him. And on top of that, when he was asked about you know, what's it going to be like in practice, etc. He cited saying, playing against West
Phillips offense will battle test us. That is something that I think getting the new school offense going against the new school defense and seeing how he adapts to that, that's going to be something that's going to be a lot of fun to watch here this preseason and all
of the offseason on the trend install everything. Yeah, you mentioned the next guy we should talk about, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, grandson of Bombs, son of Wade, and I loved it when I sat down with him earlier this week, he said he's the black sheep of the family because he's so offensive minded. But one thing that struck me as in speaking with him is just he is a very calm, even keeled kind of guy. Never got too high, I never got too low. And he was very oh,
what's the word. He was very intentional, which again is something I know we've heard from all of these guys so far, but it's a great word to describe how he answered questions. He doesn't he's not quick to talk. You can tell that he's very not calculated, but he thinks about what he says. Intentional, cerebral. Yeah, yeah, it's
one of those things with him. One thing I learned really early, even back in high school playing football, was my defensive coordinator played college football, but he was a record setting running back in college, comes to high school football and starts coaching defense and is just a beast
at defensive coordinator. It was the first time it really opened my eyes to the fact that a guy like Wes Phillips, coming from a defensive minded football family, knows exactly what they're trying to do and then flips it on its head and says, how do we attack that and exploit it in a manner that can actually beat everything I've learned my entire life so looking at a guy like Wes, he's cerebral, he's intentional, he's very calculated
in the way that he'll answer stuff. And I really am excited to see kind of what is his style of offense going to be? Given how much the league has changed over the last two years, let alone five years. What is the role of the offensive coordinator If Kevin O'Connell's calling the plays, but you got to think they're four seconds, five seconds, six seconds to decide what's next. If Kevin's doing something else, I mean, you know, like he's got to focus on certain things. Wes is probably
assisting him to the best visibility. That's that's his number one job. Wes is essentially doing the job that Kevin just has. That's the thing. So like he knows what he's signing up for. And I think that's also big because if you have a guy that comes in who's
not on board with that, yes, that could cause friction. Yeah, And that's the thing as I think, you know, if Kevin bringing Wes from the Rams, having been in that kind of system, understood and worked with him when he was you know, working with tight ends in LA and now he's coming in as essentially offensive coordinator and kind of the right hand man for Kevin to lean on when it comes to game prep and breaking down film and figuring out, you know, what exploits are we going
to use this week? What kind of stuff can we add to the playbook this week that can exploit something that we see defensively on film. A guy like Wes Phillips is going to be critical because Kevin can't necessarily
do all those things he did before. He's got head coaching duties now, so he trusts Wes Phillips implicitly to make sure that the game tone and the playbook and everything is the table is set working with the players so that Kevin on game day can make the best calls possible given what Wess helps at the table with. And I think that's part of this, like media culture of asking about play calling duties gets a little too hokey pokey, Like there are so many other things an
offensive coordinator does that doesn't involve play calling. And like you said, Kevin is not going to be able to do everything he's gonna he used to do, and he has to find the best person possible that he trusts to relay that message. Just like you said, one of the things that he was even asked press conference is talking about, you know, how important is the running game in your offense kind of a thing, and his quote was, the running game is important, but winning the game is
the most important. Again, going back to what we were just talking about with Ed, the tone has been set with we're going to be flexible to whatever needs to happen to win the game. That is something that I think is fun to hear because you understand that the idea of getting married to one scheme, one set, one ideal in order to win a game. Everyone that it feels like we're bringing in at this point are kind of saying, no, we're going to be adaptable because that's
what the league demands at this point. No shade on what's happened in the past, but as we've already talked about in this podcast, this league evolves and changes so fast. Adaptability is the only way to survive. I can tell you, as a guy who has drafted numerous Fantasy Football Patriots running backs week to week, they do not care because they look at whatever a defense is going to give them. So the idea that you can come in with an idea and a goal of how you think you're going
to win. If you do not adapt, if you do not change, you do not make halftime adjustments, in game adjustments, or at least have a plan to do that, then that's where teams can get in trouble. And I just feel like all of these different people have basically been citing over and over again just in a short amount of time, how adaptable this team is going to be in order to win games well. Rounding out this new
coordinator staff is Special Teams Coordinator Matt Daniels. He is a thirty two year old coming to us from Dallas, Texas most recently, I think I think it's important to note that he's been coaching in the NFL since twenty eighteen.
I asked him a question the other day why I spoke to him a couple of times this week, and honestly, his energy is contagious and I love that because obviously, when you have a special Teams group, energy is number one probably the most important thing to have as a special teams because sure that yeah, for sure, yeah, Special teams coaches have always been kind of your high energy people because yeah, if you think about it, they're having to pull an amalgam of players from offense and defensive
side to motivate and motivate them because not only are you running down the field to possibly be a gunner or make a tackle, then you have to turn around and run back out on that field and play wide receiver or something along those lines. So as a special teams coordinator, you need high energy people that can get people to pay attention for very specific amounts of time to do their job and then get back to the
rest of their duties on the field. So it felt like Matt Daniel's first press conference, you could feel just he's another high energy guy, very high energy, and you know he's a former player. He played in the NFL, he played in college. Special teams was definitely his bread butter when he was in the league, and I think that's huge to the relatability to players. To be able to go up to guys and like understand where they're coming from is so big nowadays and Matt's got that.
But not only that, you know he is also a fast riser, much like the rest of the coaching staff. After he finished playing, he was a GA at Colorado University and then after that Sean McVay plucked him out and he was an assistant special teams coach for four seasons, I think, But he also attached himself to his special teams coordinator with the Rams and traveled with him. So he's learned under a guy that's been a special teams
coordinator for an extremely long time as well. So I think he's really excited about this opportunity, and he even mentioned the fact that he's excited to build on the turnaround from this last season from twenty twenties from what Ryan Ficken did. His whole idea, he said, was a
simple approach with an aggressive mindset. I think with him being able to come in look at this roster, having the established people yet figuring out what the new crop of players are that are going to be coming in not only through free agency but also through the draft. Those are when the special teams coordinator is looking at those so incredibly close going what can I do with that linebacker, What can I do with that defensive end, What can I do with that wide receiver that's coming in?
You know everyone always sites it, but a guy like Adam Feeling coming in the door saying I will do whatever it takes to make this team, and I know that my biggest opportunity is through special teams before I can prove everything else. I think a guy like Matt Daniels is going to take whatever he can and just start making diamonds out of those pulled gems out of the out of the cut. And I just feel like Matt Daniels the motivating side, the former players side, and
then kind of the creative mindset of being aggressive. Um. He cited the fact they had black four punts and scored a touchdown last year in Dallas. He's coming from a team that had that same aggressive mindset. And I feel like if if the Vikings then can have a similar feeling as they did with Ficken and how much players loved being with them. I'm really curious to see what mac Daniels is going to get out of these guys. And boy did his eyes light up when I mentioned
the name Kenai Wongu. Yeah, he is ecstatic to be able to coach him. When when when I spoke to him, he kind of he had said like, um, I gotta cook story free. You know in Dallas when we were about to play you guys, is when he was healthy again, we were like, now, we're not going to really game plan for him, like we're not really sure what he can do. We're just not you know, we're not we don't know yet what this kid is capable of. And they saw glimpses of it in that game, he said.
But he said it's a good thing they got lucky because the next game against Baltimore was the ninety nine yard to the house. I mean, yeah, so he knows what this kid is capable of. He said. He watched a lot of tape on him when they were preparing or you know, thinking about preparing for him when he was on the Cowboy staff. But he is excited about
that kid. Caney was the guy that on draft night, there are a couple of people that were messaging me saying, you know, what are we doing picking a running back? We don't need a running back? And I immediately screenshot and just special teams like that is this guy. He's running a you know, four two four forty or whatever it is, and you're just looking at him saying, this guy is a potential difference maker like Cordarrell used to be when he used to see Devin Hester there too.
He has the speed and he showed us this past season he has the ability to house a kick. And if you just think about as razor thin as all of these games are that we played last year, a kick return, a punt return, whatever it is, a punt block. If you can score on special teams and you get that third phase of an NFL team to contribute that way, it can make all the difference in the world. And so, yeah,
Matt had to bring that up, didn't you. That's the thing is, he's got to be drooling thinking about here's some of the weapons I get to play with and how to shape that. And I'm excited to see what Matt can do with those guys for sure. I mean, there's a template for consistency right there, you know. I mean. And he definitely thanked Ryan Ficken. He gave him a lot of credit for turning what was a weakness in
twenty twenty to a strength in twenty twenty one. And you know, I think this is an exciting parts He, much like Wes Phillips, believes the cupboard is not empty. Yes, all right, Well, this new coaching staff will be joined by the player personnel department when the NFL combine kicks off next week, we had the opportunity to sit down with co directors of player Personnel Ryan Munnins and Jamal Stevenson, which was their first time here on the Minnesota Vikings podcast.
So let's listen it. Thank you guys so much for coming. I know you guys are so busy with your schedules getting ready for this offseason. We have Ryan Munnins and Jamal Stevenson, the co directors of player personnel here for the Minnesota Vikings. Here's your first time on the podcast. First time. How are the nerves, I'm just kidding. So far, so good. Yeah, I mean, look, I already messed up once before we did this, so that was probably a little tension out of the room. Right there we go.
I know you guys, fans may not know your face is necessarily, but they've seen your work over the several years. How many years have you guys each been with the team. Well, we've in scouting. We've both been here the exact same time. We both started in two thousand and two. I started in nineteen ninety eight as an intern, but moved into scouting in two thousand and two, So you know, we we kind of came up through different paths. I came up through the pro side. Mall came up through the
college side, and he could speak to that. But you know, but over the last year here, we've kind of merged our roles kind of into into one. Has the ability to come in at the same time and knowing each other for so long, has that helped this relationship kind
of grow over the years for sure? You know, Like like Ryan said, I mean we both well, I started here and I was hired in May of two thousand and two from the Houston, Texans at where I came from prior to here, but I was on the college side, like Ryan said, So you know, obviously a lot of my time was spent on the road, and uh, you know, a lot of his time doing the pro work has
been in the building. But when I've come here for meetings, obviously we've gotten to know each other over the years, and this year has just been fantastic to be able to work with Ryan and have that familiarity already already formed twenty years in the business. Tons of stuff has changed over that time frame, between technology being on site, being remote, everything even just let's happened in the last
two seasons. What is the biggest change that you each have seen over the last twenty seasons trying to get ready for something like the NFL Draft. Yeah, for me,
it's probably just the technology. Right. So when I first started, you know, I remember I had an old beta player and I would literally take an old mailbox and go down to the storage room and grab a bunch of beta tapes and come back up to my office and I'd have, you know, one hundred beta tapes stacked up, and I would just go one film through the next.
And now the technologists so different. Now I can I can just click on a button and I can watch every guy's you know, every run play, every pass play, every pressure, every every sack, every you know, every explosive play. I can sort them, you know, by the click of a button. And just from an ability to isolate plays and isolate situations, the technology has come so far just on the film side of it. And I think that's the most drastic change. Yeah, I would, I would have
to agree. It have to be the technology side. I mean when I started on the road, I mean, you had to be at the school to physically be able to watch their film. And uh so I didn't know much about any of the players. Say I was going to Florida that day, there there was no way to watch their tape, you know, until I got to the school. So you spend a large amount of time during the
day actually watching tape from the Florida kids. But now that film is available instantaneously, and you know, after the game is played the next couple of days, I may have that on my computer and I'm able to watch it get ahead start, so i know what I'm going to look at when I when I'm there at Florida. So then a lot of my time is spent getting to know the player as opposed to sitting there in
a film room watching tape. So the technology has been great. Yeah, And just just to piggyback off that, you know, just just the technology in general, the access to information, to you have player information at the click of a button. You know, all of the information that we've gathered, reports, physical features, timing testing, all of that, you know, is in a very accessible database and it's information that we can grab, like I said, at the click of a button.
And that's really what's changed so much versus you know, when I first started, it was going back to hold catalogs and looking up players. And I know that makes me sound like a like a dinosaur, but but it's amazing just how how quickly the technology changes from year to year, and it gets better and better every year.
And I assume for both of you that just helps with the efficiency of being able to arrive where you're going, get your business done, but then be able to move on to the next or even handle more people and see more people than you might have done before. Where you were kind of keyed in on maybe a couple of people out of school, you can look at a larger group of people while you're there. That's absolutely right.
I mean, they're you know, before the technology exists, it, you know, you could only really factor in, uh, you know, maybe three to four schools a day. I mean, because sometimes you have a school that has ten or fifteen prospects, so you're sitting there, you're really grinding through a ton of tape at the school and you really can't move on until you get that done. So sometimes if you had that many prospects, like at a Florida State or an Alabama, you'd spend two days there, you know, just
getting the getting the tape done. And now there's so much more access to tape. You can you can get that tape done, you know, before you go to any of the schools, you know, on the weekend, and now you can get maybe five or six schools you can do you can do two schools in a day because you've already gotten the tape work done. And so your main goal at the school is to watch practice and then get the background information on these players you know
as worth sitting in draft meetings. Now it gives us the ability to take a certain position, and if we have you know, a handful of players that are stacked pretty equally, you know, we can we can easily pick out the critical factors that are most important to us, they are most important to our coaching staff. So if we take an fugh receiver, we're able to watch all third down plays and just watch them back to back
to back. Or we can take all the x's and we can watch all the explosive plays and watch them back to back to back and just make sure that we get our stack right and we feel really good about the group. Just you know, the the ability to save time and to feel really thorough about the process, I think is a big one for us. Does it help you find maybe that diamond in the rough a little bit easier now? With the there's just so many
names out there, so much tape. It's almost an embarrassment of riches at times because you do have the ability to see Eddie and all college players out there. Is there a time where you sit back and you're like, oh, like this kid, maybe you know, twenty years ago, may not have been discovered. Yeah, I mean it definitely, Like
we talked about earlier, it makes you more efficient. It puts more tape at your disposal more quickly, more rapidly, without you know, saying having to live from here to you know, a small small city in Alabama to to watch a player. I mean you can pull up that tape you know, right here and be able to do that without getting on a flight and you know, spending the resources to do that. So yeah, I mean it definitely makes it easier. The technology makes it easier to
identify players for sure. And I also think with as many bowl games as there are now, you know, you've got the Hula in the East West, and the NFLPA and the Senior Bowl. I mean, so many of these kids are invited to these games, and a lot of small school kids get exposure to these games, and so you're able to watch kind of apples to Apple's competition.
And I think it's really important that less of these kids are are getting buried or left behind because there is so much exposure and there's so you know, so much accessibility to these Bowl games. I assume even I mean, you can go back if you really want to and find all the high school tape and everything else. Given today's social media age where everyone's posting everything and all
the services that are available. You know, you kind of touched on a little bit too of just trying to figure out, then how do you discern between um kind of weeding through all of that in order to kind of come to a decision on how you grade that player.
Is it using past knowledge, is it something where there's there's newer technology that you really kind of you know, throw it in and kind of kick out a number, like for you specifically within the room, working with all the coaches and everybody, how do you process that information then to not get lost in the weeds. Yeah, I mean it's a it's a pretty thorough process and we've we've done it here for a long time. You know, all of our scouts have access to the same technology,
the same video. Um, So on any one given player, we may have three or four different reports and opinions on that player from our scouts, and then once we combine our our coaches and add them to the process, then you're you're getting the full picture of what you think that player may be. You know, some of us do go back. I can watch some YouTube videos of a kid in the high school or u you know, um, if he played basketball, you know, you can watch him
do a three sixty dunk. Or you know, we had a player here, Fred Evans wants to jumped out of a pool, uh, you know, at three hundred pounds and landed on his feet. So, I mean there's the technology clues you into all of that and uh, and it's available for all of us. So, but our process is pretty inclusive, you know, with our scouts, our coaches, and once all that information is put together, we meet on it and we come up with a final grade. Every year we ask ourselves, how can we get better, how
can we improve our process? What haven't we done in the past, Like, you know, how have we missed m and why have we missed? And I think those are really the critical factors. And I even think now, you know, I think that's a you know, one thing Kuzy has has done immediately he's done, come in and done a good job and just say like, how can we improve this? You know, what your thoughts, what are your ideas? And I think every year we're trying to do that and
I think every year we get better too. But to Jamal's point, you know, it's a combination of a lot of different things. It's scouts, it's analytics, it's coaches, and when that all comes together, hopefully you're you're making the right decision. And it's got to be the right fit for your team, because one player for one team may
not be a player for another team. Some of us behind the scenes, when we see all of you guys in the building showing up doing the work and all the meetings for hours and hours on end, fans a lot of times don't start paying attention until the scene's over. And when it comes to your crew and your group. This is something that starts long before the season's done, and then you're like, oh, the combines coming up, we should pay attention how long like for you in your process,
when does this really start? And the culmination is the actual draft day and then after that signing for agents and everything. But what is that timeline typically like for your group? Yeah, so our scouts start watching tape in the summer, you know, prior to college football season starting.
And typically or sometimes it's you know, we have two three years worth of of looks on a player because you know, with COVID and everything, um, and guys returning for an extra year, you've already watched that player, um when he was a senior and now he's a super senior. So there's there's there. You know, sometimes two three years looks on on on a player, and we really start that process in depth in the summer. Um. Like I said, all the tape is available to each scout and they
can do that from the comforts of their own home. Uh. So that process starts in and then uh, in the fall, we're able to go out and um, you know, go visit these schools and and just kind of follow up on that initial summer summer tape work. Uh. And then as that process goes through the fall, we're going to bowl games. So our scouts are out and um, you know they're going to bowl games, They're going to all
Star games. So we're watching all the seniors, the Top Sea in your Prospects, at the East West Game, at the Senior Bowl, the Hula Bowl, so many, uh, you know, now all star games that are are in play, and we're kind of just in the process now where we're starting to talk about those players. These are our initial draft meetings with our scouts, so the coaches have not really gotten involved to this point yet. That comes in April, right before the drafts and they've had time to watch
players and interview them at the combine. So it's a pretty thorough process that starts in the summer, and you know it goes year round almost and I just think you really have to find that balance, you know, we, like Jamal said, we start that process in the summer, and I think that's really crucial because when you go in in the fall, it's it's you don't have as much time to watch film at the school, right because you're going in and you want to find out the
football character and you want to find out, you know, the off field character these players, and and so you really don't have as much time to sit down and just grind tape when you're at the school call. So that's why it's it's so important to build a foundation
of summer tape. Obviously as we go through the season, right, you have to find the right combination of balancing your workload between the college side, the pro side, adding players to your own team, and managing your own roster, which has become much more difficult over the last couple of years because of COVID and the number of code replacements on any given day. And that's and that's really the day to day roster management is a big chunk of
what you're doing during the season. And then also balancing out you know, the pro side as we do advanced out and reports for the coaches and we're watching games and and you know, communicating on a day to day basis what the coaches with the coaches or what they're looking for and how we can help them on a game to game basis. Right. You mentioned a little while ago new Vikings general manager Quasi at Dopamenza and what
he's done so far on the job. I mean it's been I think the other day when I spoke to me, he's been there about a month, So I actually want to ask huge, mal though, what are your first like initial impression of quis very chill vibe, but a pleasant personality. I think he has a way of making everyone feel like they're important and their opinions are valued. Um, you know. And and the one thing that he's done for me, um that I really necessarily didn't do in the past,
was he makes you challenge your thoughts. Um. You know. He asked you the why, and he wants to see proof of the why and why you see what you see. And you know, that's something that I'm really not used to because in the past I would just put it in my report. Here it is, it is what it is. And uh, he makes you think about why, why you're why you're saying a certain player can't do this or why can a player do this? And so you have to go back and and really examine, you know, and
you have to be mindful when you're writing that player. Okay, I better put in Okay, this is play number thirty six. This is what I'm saying. This is an example of what I'm saying here. So it's it's more like fact checking, really, and I think it's good for us, you know, as older scouts, but it's also good for the younger scouts to be able to see what an example of why
we're seeing what we're saying. So he's been great, Um, you know, he's he's been in our process and and h but he's he's kind of just letting us run with it. And you know, which I think is smart because we our process is where it is at this point already and we're getting close to the draft now. He's he's provided input, um and kind of guidance along the way, but the structure of our meetings has remained
virtually the same. So he's been great with us. Yeah, And I would say, you know, don't discount just walking around the building and feeling some chemistry and some positivity. And I think that's really important whether it's at the Minnesota Vikings or Best Buy or General Mills. I just think to be around really positive people and people that
will encourage you to push you in a really positive way. Um. I think that's really really important when it comes to not only Quacy, but even all the new coaches that are now in the building and some of them essentially being kind of finalized last week when it comes to that point though, with you and how closely you work with them, how quickly do you have to get up
to speed of what they're looking for. It's trial by fire, right, So you go from no coaches in the building to also you have a full staff in the building, and it is It takes energy, and it takes really a lot of time to establish relationships, and you have to be smart enough to know that that's just not going to come overnight. Chemistry just doesn't happen overnight. So it's
going to be a process. But you really have to make an effort to get to know these coaches and want to be in their office and talk about their position and talk about, you know, what they're looking for and players. And I'll say this, Kevin's done a really good job here in the first week as we're sitting through draft meetings, sending you know, sitting down with us with the position coaches and kind of talking through what
they're looking for and play. And I think from the scouting perspective that that is the most important first conversation we can have before before we can do anything on the scouting side, is to figure out what type of player they want, what type of player they're looking for, whether it's measurables or characteristics or football character. I think
all of those things really really mattered. And until we absorb that as scouts and we have clear communication with the scouting staff and the coaching staff, that's that's the only way we can really move forward. But like I said, you know, to establish these true relationship with coaches, it's going to take walking into their office and sitting down and having a cup of coffee and asking about their family and really just getting to know these coaches on
a personal basis and trying to earn some trust. And I don't think Jamal and I are naive enough to think that that happens overnight, because but but it's a process that I really enjoy doing and I know Jamal does too. It's it's love being around people, being around new people, being around coaching talking football, and so it's it's been positive a plus across the board. Yeah, I mean,
I spoke to Queasy earlier this week. He I asked him about, you know, the personnel, how is it around guys who have been established in this league for so long and kind of coming in being the new guy, And he was like, I mean they're pros. Like there's future general managers all over this personnel department right now because they know how to do their business around here. And he kind of like lit up a little bit, like he was really excited about you guys in particular.
And so as you head to the NFL combine, what are your feelings with this new coaching staff, new germ manager, knowing what you need to find next week or what you're looking for, but then also actually having the combine, you guys are like back in your element. Absolutely. Yeah, it's great to be going back to Indy. You know, we took last year off because of COVID and basically it was a medical only combine, so we didn't partake in that as you know, as a scouting group. But uh, yeah,
it's great to go back. The combine is just another part of the process, but it's an important one because not only do we get all the top players in one area, we get their medical information, which is critically important. We get to watch them work out, which is also great. I mean, you know, sometimes if you're sitting there watching tape, you're not able to maybe distinguish how stronger quarterbacks arm is.
If you don't watch go watch a game live, or you know, you may miss out on a kid's athletic ability on tape, but then you see it live at the combine running a forty or a shuttle and you said, wow, that guy's not as stiff as maybe I thought he looked on tape. So being able to see that live
is critically important. But I would say the most important thing is getting in front of all these you know, the players that we're interested in and sitting down and you know, doing a you know, it's not a very long interview, eighteen minutes or so, but it gives you just kind of a window into who that player is as a person. Oftentimes during the year, these these players are you know, um shield it from your you know, being able to actually talk to you you're there on campus,
but you're there to watch film. You're there to talk to coaches and strength coaches and trainers, and you don't get to face up with a with a player or prospects. So to be able to see them, look them in the eye, and hear them speak and talk about what's important to them that that's a big part of the combat. Yeah, it's probably the one thing I'm probably most excited about is Listen, We've we've had the opportunity to sit down with these kids one on one, you know, scout to player.
But now it's our turn to to kind of sitting back of the room and watch, you know, whether it's the head coach or the coordinator or the position coach um talk to these kids and talk football and talk through plays and look, you know, ask them what they're
looking for in particular situations. And it's a really good learning environment for us to see our coach is And it'll be especially important this year to get in front of these kids with our coaches because it's the first time we've been with our coaches, and so you know, it's it's it'll be important to see exactly how they coach, how they teach, and kind of what they're looking for
out of these players too. The combine is always usually the kind of unofficial official kickoff to the next season. Get to see your colleagues, get to see people that used to work with before when it comes to the combine. Besides just getting to the players, what else does it mean for your group now from this point of the combine moving forward to draft day, kind of that official launch into the next season for not only the Vikings but for the NFL. It's a great opportunity for our
entire organization. Everybody that goes down there to kind of bond. I mean that there is time to bond, whether it's with the scouts or the coaches, or the trainers or the cap people, and you know, just basically our entire organization is down there, and it is a really good bonding experience. You know, we were down to man Cato for so many years at training camp, and now that that we're here, you know, that man Cato time was kind of our time to get away and kind of
bond and set the stage. And so not only for our own team, but just just to see people around the league and talk to you know, other scouts around the league and other coaches around the league, or other coaches that you've been with or that we're here with the Vikings for an extended period of time and to see those guys again. So I think that's a big part of it too, aside from from the workouts and the testing in the interviews, just to be able to
see people and kind of establish or reestablish relationships again. Well, we wish you the best of luck, and obviously the time that you spend in the combine is so valuable, not only as you just said, to this coaching staff and establishing these relationships, but also for constructing the twenty twenty two Vikings roster for this season, which is just
so exciting. We thank you so much, though, guys, for giving us a nice behind the seeds inside peak at what you guys do every day and heading into the combine what you're looking for and how that's handled, because I think that's something that maybe fans think they know more about, but I hope that they took away a lot learning from you guys today. So thank you so much to Ryan Munnins and Jamal Stevenson, co directors of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings, for being here on
our podcast. Thanks thanks for having us. A huge thank you to Ryan Munnins and Jamal Stevenson for being our guests in the podcast. I know I keep repeating how thankful we are, but when you've got guys that are this busy, that can only really talk in their lunch hour to us, which is so nice. Really, it really is a feeling of thankfulness because you know, I like that they were willing to speak with fans and let
them kind of inside a day in their life. Those two guys are some of the nicest guys that we have here in the organization, and I know they don't get promoted a ton. I know that when Rick was here, he would always talk about how much work Jamal did
behind the scenes. Same thing with Ryan. As they said, they've been working on a bunch of this stuff since the summer, so this really is kind of their super Bowl time coming up in the next month or so, a prep and like you said, for them to take twenty to thirty minutes out of their time during their lunch hour in between meetings was a huge deal. So very grateful to have those guys in the show this week. Yes, the behind the scenes look is always interesting to me.
You know, to be a fly on the wall of one of those prospect interview rooms would just be epic.
And that's the thing is, you know, that group is kind of an insular group and they pull people from all different departments and you talk to them at this time of year and they're like, you know, justifiably, so they can't say much because they don't want things getting out that they're discussing, and you completely understand that it's always interesting after the fact that times you'll get some information as who you know, here's why we picked this
player after we picked them, etc. Etc. But for that group, you know, I think fans would absolutely love the ability to be able to hear and see what they do. I'm just hoping that those guys are able during this time to catch up and get what they need, not only coaching wise, but in all these meetings and then between the combine, the pro days, all the prep, the subterfuge that always tends to happen, free agency, everything, that they're able to really be able to focus and find
some great players to help this team for sure. I mean, it all gets going next week when the NFL Combine kicks off, which is obviously so great to see it returned to at least some sense of normalcy. I mean, we have it. I don't know how, you know. I know that the players actually were very or the prospects rather integral and making sure that they can make these meetings and things like that, so it should be an
exciting time. I think that we've got a lot of people here at the Vikings Entertainment Network that are headed down there next week to provide coverage and analysis. We'll talk to experts and we'll also talk with We'll have a couple of interviews dropping with Quacy and a few of the coordinators. So it's going to be a really exciting week to be a part of Vikings dot Com, the YouTube page or the app wherever you get your Vikings information. It's going to be a very very hectic week.
We'll also wrap it all up with an MVP episode next week as well. So I mean, it's just going to be a lot of info. I hope you're prepared to get to know everyone really well. Be ready for your feeds to just explode over the next five six days next week. And like you said, this is always the exciting time of year because you're finally starting to get a little bit of a taste of who the new crop is and what your possibilities might be for twenty twenty two. Exactly. It's just a lot of fresh
newness around here. It's a very bright and exciting time here at TCOPC. We're not taking a break anytime soon. The break was like a one week vacation. I think it was kind of a sad break. Yeah, that month kind of got eating up real quick, real quick. But no, we're excited to keep giving you and providing you content behind the scenes looks at what's going on here because we know you guys are all interested in what's next for the Minnesota Vikings. So for Jay Nelson, I'm Tatum
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