Per ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the Minnesota Vikings will be interviewing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach Raheem Morris for what Mortensen called a "high-level defensive coaching position." With current Vikings' defensive coordinator Fred Pagac in serious jeopardy of being fired, it stands to reason that the Vikings would be interviewing Morris to potentially be his successor.
Morris has spent the past three seasons as the Buccaneers' head coach, taking over for the fired Jon Gruden in 2009. The Buccaneers went 3-13 in their first season under Morris, and followed that up with a 10-6 campaign in 2010, contending for a playoff spot until the final week of the season. The seven-game turn-around was the largest in Buccaneers' franchise history. Unfortunately for Morris, things fell apart this season, with the Bucs losing ten straight games after a 4-2 start to finish with a 4-12 record and the fifth overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Morris has never been a defensive coordinator in the NFL before. He was set to take that job in Tampa Bay in place of legendary coach Monte Kiffin, who left the Buccaneers after the 2008 season to join his son Lane with the NCAA's Tennessee Volunteers. However, Gruden was fired in mid-January of 2009 and Morris was promoted to the head coaches spot with the Buccaneers. Prior to that, he had been the team's defensive backs coach.
The potential hiring of Morris would lead one to believe that the Vikings will stay with their current "Tampa-2" defensive approach, rather than potentially attempting to switch to a 3-4 defense. . .a scheme that they are ill-equipped to switch to at the current time, personnel-wise.
We will have more on this story as it develops.