New Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah continued the team's coaching search Tuesday, hosting fellow Ivy Leaguer and current Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham at TCO Performance Center for a second interview.
Graham left Vikings headquarters Tuesday night as the internal search committee prepared to host Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday. Harbaugh is the last known interview scheduled among candidates. The Vikings have formally interviewed nine coaches, with three gaining follow-up talks.
The team had two interviews for a second time Monday in Los Angeles with Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. The Vikings first talked with Harbaugh on Saturday, three days after Adofo-Mensah was introduced, to gauge his interest in the job. Adofo-Mensah and Harbaugh worked together in San Francisco during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Graham met with the team for nine hours Tuesday, according to a league source. He initially interviewed with the Vikings on Saturday, the first candidate to talk with the team after Adofo-Mensah was named general manager. A former Yale defensive lineman, Graham is believed to have a strong relationship with Adofo-Mensah, a Princeton graduate.
The Giants defense fell off last season under Graham, a former longtime Patriots assistant coach who oversaw the league's 12th-ranked defense in his Giants debut in 2020; they ranked 21st last year. But Graham has built a strong reputation and is wanted back on the Giants staff under new head coach Brian Daboll, who said Monday that Graham, 43, is a "very diligent" coach whom players respect.
"We hope that he has an opportunity to become a head coach," Daboll told New York reporters. "I think that's everybody's dream, but selfishly, I would love him to be here. He offers a lot to our program. I think he'd be a great support system for me and I'm hoping that works out."
Graham, who is Black, spoke with the Vikings on the day former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL alleging discriminatory hiring practices. Flores, a Black Latino, accused the Giants of hosting him for a "sham" interview Thursday, a day before the team announced Daboll, who is white, as its next head coach.
Flores, who was 24-25 in three seasons before he was fired by the Dolphins, also accused the Broncos of interviewing him in 2019 just to satisfy the league's Rooney Rule, which requires teams interview at least two minority candidates for head-coaching jobs. After an update last season, teams now must make one of those interviews in person.
The Vikings have met that requirement by conducting in-person second interviews with Graham and Morris. Harbaugh will be the 10th candidate to speak with the Vikings, the sixth who is white.
The Rooney Rule was adopted in 2003 to address the lack of diversity in the NFL's leadership ranks. Flores' lawsuit states, "well intentioned or not, what is clear is that the Rooney Rule is not working." Two GMs hired in this cycle, Adofo-Mensah and the Bears' Ryan Poles, are Black, while the four head coaches hired so far are white.
Etc.
Former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, who was fired last month after 16 years in Minnesota, interviewed with the Jaguars this week for an undisclosed front-office position, according to the Associated Press. The 59-year-old Spielman could become an assistant GM under Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke.
Star Tribune writer Ben Goessling contributed to this report.
