Minnesota Vikings name Phil Rauscher new O-line coach because of COVID-19 protocols; Rick Dennison still with team
EAGAN, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings announced Tuesday that Phil Rauscher will replace Rick Dennison as the team's offensive line coach this season.
Dennison, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, will remain with the team as a senior offensive adviser. Ben Steele, who was hired earlier this year by Auburn as special teams analyst, will be Minnesota's assistant offensive line coach, filling the role Rauscher held since 2019.
On Friday, ESPN reported that Dennison was out as offensive line coach/run game coordinator because he was not vaccinated. The Vikings later said they were in discussion with Dennison on the NFL's COVID-19 protocols while stating that he did not have an exemption to the vaccination requirement.
The vaccine is required for all Tier 1 staff, including coaches, front-office executives, equipment managers and scouts. Players are not required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine but will face strict protocols during training camp and throughout the season that vaccinated players will be able to forgo.
In a memo released by the league this summer, the NFL said any unvaccinated Tier 1 staff member must provide a valid religious or medical reason for not receiving the vaccine. Losing Tier 1 status prohibits coaches from being on the field and in meeting rooms and having direct interactions with players.
"Rick will be joining virtual," general manager Rick Spielman said. "... He will be in contact with coach Zim [Mike Zimmer]. He will be in contact with [offensive coordinator] Klint [Kubiak], with Phil and basically just the whole offense in giving his input in how we came to this agreement on what we agreed upon."
Zimmer said the team and Dennison worked throughout the offseason to come to an agreement that would allow the veteran coach to remain with the team in spite of his decision to not get vaccinated.
"It went on for about three months and I told Rick Spielman, I told him, 'I'm glad that you're patient, because I'm probably not as patient as you are.'" Zimmer said. "But with him and his agent Peter Schaffer and Rick Dennison, we were able to all come to an agreement, and as you said, cooler heads prevailed."
Keeping continuity on offense was a top priority for the Vikings in coming to an agreement to keep Dennison on staff. While he won't be in the building with the rest of Minnesota's coaching staff, the 63-year-old will be in regular communication with the staff throughout the week.
"So basically, what he's going to be doing, he's going to watch the practice with the offensive coaches, he's going to be helping to evaluate," Zimmer said. "Little things like that. I've got [senior defensive assistant] Paul Guenther up there with me now and he'll sit in the meetings, we'll talk about 'Have you thought about doing it this way?' or 'Is he taking the right step on this particular run?' or 'Is he shooting his left hand the way he's supposed to do it?' So all those things are things I think he can really help us with. And then the next part, as we start getting ready for the games in the season, he'll be helping with game-plan ideas, third-down ideas, protection ideas, things like that.
"Phil will be -- I also felt like it was important that there was one voice in the meeting room, so he's going to be in charge of the meeting room. I've got the utmost confidence in Phil, he's had very many opportunities to leave here and we've talked him out of it because I figured someday Rick might decide to retire and Phil would be ready to go. But he's had a lot of opportunities to leave and it was important that way. I felt like this was the best win-win situation for our football team and also with Rick. Luckily Peter Schaffer and Rick did a good job of hammering out the ideas and the coaches came up with what his specific duties will be."
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