The Vikings solidified a reorganization of the team's scouting and personnel departments on Tuesday, announcing 12 new titles and one new hire.
The Vikings' new co-directors of player personnel will be Jamaal Stephenson and Ryan Monnens. Both are entering their 20th seasons in Vikings scouting after serving in the longtime roles of college scouting director and pro scouting director, respectively. Together they'll oversee all player personnel decisions, with Stephenson spending less time on the scouting trail and more time at the team's headquarters in Eagan.
They'd already started to help fill the void left when former assistant general manager George Paton became Denver's general manager in January. After years of learning alongside Paton, Monnens stepped into Paton's shoes during this year's NFL Draft by working phones with assistant general manager Rob Brzezinski to facilitate and seek trade opportunities with other teams.
General manager Rick Spielman also acknowledged Stephenson's work during the draft.
"I want to recognize Jamaal Stephenson, too, for his guidance and leadership," Spielman said. "Sitting there, being able to go back and forth with him on potential prospects that we were trying to trade up for. Do you sit or do you move back? I have a lot of help in that room and I'm very fortunate to have the people around me that I have."
The team's new directors of pro and college scouting are former pro scout Reed Burckhardt and National scout Mike Sholiton.
The Vikings also hired former Texans scout Chris Blanco to be the assistant director of pro scouting. The team's longtime National scout, Pat Roberts, has been promoted to assistant director of college scouting.
Chisom Opara, the Browns' director of player personnel from 2016-2017, is now a Vikings' National scout after serving three years as a college scouting consultant.
Two former scouting interns, Caroline DeFelice and Mitch Johnson-Martin, were hired onto the staff. DeFelice enters her first year as a player personnel assistant, while Johnson-Martin becomes the BLESTO scout covering the Central Plains region. Jake Essler, the team's former BLESTO scout, has signed a new deal as a college scout.
BLESTO and National are two leaguewide scouting services that all teams can collect data from.
The Vikings lost two assistants this offseason when former manager of player personnel Kelly Kleine was hired by Paton in Denver, and former football administration coordinator Taylor Young was hired by Cleveland.
Kaitlin Zarecki, entering her third season as assistant to Spielman, has added player development manager to her job duties. She'll help facilitate player programs focusing on rookies transitioning into the NFL, along with coordinating daily football operations and college scouting.
The Vikings made two promotions in their tech department, with Paul Nelson given the title of Executive Director of Football Information Systems, and Luke Burson named a Senior Manager in that department.
