The Vikings have hired two new assistants to head coach Mike Zimmer's staff.

Robert Rodriguez joins as assistant defensive line coach, and Andrew Janocko will be offensive quality control coach.

Rodriguez, an assistant at Texas-El Paso, will work under defensive line coach Andre Patterson. Rodriguez replaces Robb Akey, who joined the Redskins last month.

Rodriguez played linebacker at UTEP and is among the school's all-time leaders in tackles. He spent time with the Panthers and Titans in 2005 but never played in a regular-season NFL game. He had stints in NFL Europe in 2006 and the CFL in 2006-07 before getting into coaching.

He joined UTEP's staff as an assistant in 2008 and was promoted to linebackers coach in 2010. The past two years the 33-year-old was their nickels coach and assistant special teams coordinator.

Janocko, 26, was quarterbacks coach at Mercyhurst last season after working as an offensive assistant for Tampa Bay (2012-13) and a graduate assistant at Rutgers (2011). He was a backup quarterback at Pitt from 2007-10.