The Minnesota Vikings are expected to hire former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend as the team’s new secondary coach, this according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. Townsend, 46, has eight years of experience as an NFL assistant, having spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bears under recently-fired head coach Matt Nagy.
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“That’s a huge hire for the Vikings,’’ said Bryant McFadden, a former Steelers second-round pick who played with Townsend in Pittsburgh’s secondary between 2005-08. “Number one, he’s a great guy and having good people around is always a plus. Number two, he’s football smart. He’s extremely savvy and relatable to guys. He’s a players’ coach but he understands what it takes to be successful. I think it’s only a matter of time before he’s a defensive coordinator in this league.”
In the meantime, Townsend will be charged with improving Minnesota’s suspect pass defense, which allowed an average of 253 yards per game in 2021 (per NFL.com), this as opposed to the 191.6 passing yards per game allowed by Chicago, the latter mark being the third-best average in the league.
Deshea Townsend is a Former Steelers Fourth-Round Pick
Townsend entered the NFL in 1998 as a fourth-round draft pick of the Steelers, selected No. 117 overall out of Alabama. He played 12 seasons in Pittsburgh before finishing his career with Indianapolis in 2010, making 80 starts and appearing in a total of 183 games for Bill Cowher/Mike Tomlin.
According to Pro Football Reference, he recorded 460 tackles and 21 interceptions, three of which he returned for touchdowns. During his time with the Steelers he was also credited with 15.5 sacks, 111 passes defensed, five forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.
Most notably, perhaps, he started Pittsburgh’s 21-10 win over Seattle in Super Bowl XL and had a sack and six tackles. He also played in Pittsburgh’s 27-23 win over Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII, where he was credited with three tackles.
Townsend Started His Coaching Career Under His Steelers Position Coach
Deshea Townsend had no trouble getting his pro coaching career underway, having been hired as Arizona’s assistant defensive backs coach in 2011, where he worked under Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton, who was his position coach while he was with the Steelers. After two seasons in Arizona, Townsend returned home to his native Mississippi to serve as cornerbacks coach for the Mississippi State Bulldogs (2013-15), after which it was back to the NFL as secondary coach for the Tennessee Titans (2016-17) and assistant defensive backs coach of the New York Giants (2018).
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Add Another Name to the Steelers’ G.M. Interview Tracker
Also on Friday came the news that the Steelers are planning to interview Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vice President of Player Personnel for the team’s soon-to-be-vacant general manager position, this according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
That would make him the fifth external candidate to interview for the job, following in the wake of ESPN commentator Louis Riddick and three other candidates who are currently working for other NFL teams.
The Steelers also have a pair of internal candidates in Omar Khan and Brandon Hunt, the former the Steelers’ vice president of football and business administration and the latter the organization’s pro scouting coordinator.
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Vikings to Name Ex-Steelers CB as Secondary Coach: Report