Vikings Hire New Assistant on O-Line

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Christian Darrisaw, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

We’ve seen plenty of shuffling within the Minnesota Vikings organization already this offseason, but nothing yet on the personnel side. That will change in a major way less than one month from now, when the legal tampering period begins on March 9, followed by the official start of NFL free agency on March 11.

And now that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is gone, it appears the Vikings are set at the executive level — at least until the draft is over in April. That means, if you are looking for changes on your favorite football team, you’ll have to settle for more shuffling within the coaching staff.

Lucky for you, there has been plenty of that since the end of the 2025 regular season. One of the first changes on Minnesota’s coaching staff came when the Vikings decided not to renew the contract of offensive line coach Chris Kuper — who is now in Philadelphia.

After weighing their options to lead a position that was overpaid to be underwhelming last year, head coach Kevin O’Connell decided to promote from within, naming assistant OL coach Keith Carter as the MN Vikings new offensive line coach.

Minnesota Vikings hire Derek Warehime as assistant OL coach

That filled the Vikings’ OL coaching vacancy and opened an opportunity for someone else to fill the same role Carter has held in recent seasons for the Minnesota Vikings.

On Friday, they found their guy (according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports) hiring Kentucky’s offensive run game coordinator Derek Warehime as the team’s now assistant OL coach.

Warehime, 43, was getting set to work with new Kentucky head coach, and former Oregon offensive coordinator, Will Stein. Instead, he’s off to the NFL for the first time in his coaching career, which began back in 2006 as a graduate assistant with Rice University.

Prior to his three seasons developing offensive rushing attacks at Kentucky, Warehime worked as the OL Coach at Coastal Carolina (2023-24). Before that, he was the offensive coordinator at New Mexico (2020-22).

Looking at his resume, it appears Derek Warehime really cut his coaching teeth at the University of Texas, where from 2017 to 2019 he held three different jobs — starting as the OL coach (’17), then special teams coordinator (’18), and eventually TE Coach (’19).

Few changes coming for MN Vikings O-Line

Despite significant financial investment last offseason, which included a first round pick on guard Donovan Jackson, the offensive line was was one of the Minnesota Vikings’ 2025 lowlights. Between poor play and worse injury luck, the o-line was a disaster most of last season, which did not help the already desperate QB situation.

In 2026, both Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill are expected back to bookend the offensive line. The Vikings desperately need Darrisaw to be healthy, after 1.5 seasons of him being out or playing far below 100%.

Both guard positions are pretty set in stone, as well. Will Fries signed the longest deal of any Vikings free agent last season and Jackson is going into his second year as a first round starter.

Where the Minnesota Vikings may have questions to answer is at center. They aren’t bringing back Ryan Kelly, even if he does keep playing despite numerous head injuries in 2025. Cutting him saves ~$9 million and they can’t afford to rely on a center who can’t stay healthy.

However, they do have multiple center options available who proved last year that they might be plug-and-play replacements, including Blake Brandel, who some think should be the starter going forward.

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