When Brett Favre joined the Minnesota Vikings in 2009, spurring one of the most exhilarating seasons in team history, his position coach was 58-year-old Kevin Rogers, the former offensive coordinator for Donovan McNabb at Syracuse.
Rogers’ assistant was 27-year-old Kevin Stefanski, who had just been promoted to a role with the position coaches after spending three years as an assistant to then-head coach Brad Childress. Stefanski, born in the 1980s, was coaching Favre, a future Hall of Famer born in the 1960s.
Eight seasons, several coaching staff shake-ups and three assignment changes later, Stefanski, now 35, remains. He is one of the final links to the 2009 coaching staff along with special teams assistant Ryan Ficken.
Stefanski survived the firings of Childress in 2010 and Leslie Frazier after the 2013 season, then was assigned to be the tight ends coach when Mike Zimmer arrived in 2014.
“Things you hear from other people around the league and maybe even guys who were on the staff prior talked about what a great worker [Stefanski] is,” Zimmer said when asked how Stefanski stuck around through the coaching change. “He’s prepared every single day, he’s knowledgeable.”
Stefanski got a head start on most of his coaching peers by not playing professionally
Two years into Zimmer’s stint as coach, Stefanski took the reins as running backs coach when Kirby Wilson accepted a job in Cleveland. This past offseason, he switched again, replacing Scott Turner as primary quarterbacks coach, his third assignment in three seasons.
Quite the circuitous path for the team’s longest-tenured coach.
“Stepping back,” said Stefanski, “that was so good for me to spend two years with the tight ends, one year with the running backs. It really helped widen my perspective on things.”
Of all the position coaches on the Vikings, only Adam Zimmer, 33, is younger than Stefanski. Like the coach’s son, Stefanski got a head start on most of his coaching peers by not playing professionally. He interned with the Philadelphia Eagles one year after concluding his college playing career at the University of Pennsylvania. The following year he was on staff with the Vikings.
Starting young kept Stefanski humble and forced him to work his way up the NFL coaching totem pole. Despite playing defensive back in college, Stefanski shifted his focus to the offensive side of the ball after working closely with the offensively-minded Childress. Rather than coaching from experience, he has been forced to observe and absorb from those who have either played or coached for decades. That includes Favre.
“Brett, for instance, in my first year in the room, it was so enlightening to see how a quarterback can shape the environment of a team, of an offense,” said Stefanski. “I think Brett was a great example of how to be a great teammate to his guys in his own way.”
Stefanski likes to put his players in as many game-like situations as possible, which jibes well with Zimmer’s renewed emphasis on situational football
Stefanski leaned on Norv Turner during his two-plus seasons with the Vikings, especially when he transitioned to tight ends coach in 2014. When Stefanski took over the running backs in 2016, he traveled to UCLA to chat with the Bruins’ offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu, who coincidentally took Stefanski’s place on this year’s staff when Stefanski transitioned to quarterbacks.
In pursuit of more consultants, Stefanski attended the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. this past January to “talk shop” with various quarterbacks coaches, just one week after the team announced his move to the new position. He also called upon four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Rich Gannon, who attended the same high school as Stefanski, Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia.
Many of his conversations revolve around drills. Stefanski likes to put his players in as many game-like situations as possible, which jibes well with Zimmer’s renewed emphasis on situational football.
“Our guys, they really respond to, ‘Hey, here’s an actual pocket movement that you’re going to use in the game,’ as opposed to something elaborate which doesn’t mimic the game of football,” Stefanski said.
With recent experience coaching tight ends and running backs within the same offensive scheme, Stefanski’s greatest asset may be his knowledge of other positions. This enables him to let his quarterbacks know how pass-catchers will be coming out of their routes, where running backs will be in their protections and whether they’ll be able to break off into a route after picking up a pass-rusher.
I think that’s a big part of playing quarterback is being able to communicate, being able to verbalize what you’re thinking on certain plays
Backup quarterback Case Keenum, a newcomer to Minnesota, has been eased into his role thanks to Stefanski’s holistic knowledge of the game. The former Texans and Rams quarterback said he’s never seen a position coach so versatile who can coach QBs as well as Stefanski.
“He does a great job of communicating to us,” said Keenum. I think that’s a big part of playing quarterback is being able to communicate, being able to verbalize what you’re thinking on certain plays. My goal is always to really get my mindset to be the same as the coach’s, so he does a great job of encouraging us and trying to help us get there.”
Stefanski keeps the job fun, as well. When he was coaching running backs, he’d frequently run a drill where he would stand approximately 10 yards away from the players, who were lined up shoulder to shoulder with their hands behind their backs. Stefanski would gun the ball randomly at one of the players, who would have to react quickly enough to get their hands out from behind their back to make the catch. If they dropped the ball, or if they flinched when the ball wasn’t thrown their way, they were out of the game.
The unique wrinkle in Stefanski’s quarterbacking drills is a catcher’s mitt.
The idea was brought over by Bill Musgrave during his tenure as offensive coordinator. Stefanski wears the glove during individual drills so the quarterbacks can pass him the ball without hesitation, keeping their throws more game-like. “Sometimes when they’re throwing to a coach or a trainer,” said Stefanski, “they’re gonna take a little bit of something off of it. ‘I don’t want to break this guy’s fingers,’ so it allows them to just fire that thing in there.”
“At the end of the day if you’re moving the ball well and you’re making plays, he’s going to let you do that”
Stefanski likes keeping his guys loose. He’s a football coach, after all, not a drill sergeant. The most important thing a quarterback can do is make plays, and Stefanski’s goal is to enable the play-making part while providing guidance when applicable.
“At the end of the day if you’re moving the ball well and you’re making plays, he’s going to let you do that,” said backup Taylor Heinicke, “but if he sees something that maybe you can be quicker on, stuff like that, he’s obviously going to point it out.”
Ultimately, Stefanski’s primary focus is communication and collaboration with his quarterbacks, but he doesn’t want a superior-subordinate relationship. As much coaching as Stefanski has done over the last decade-plus, he still considers himself a student of the game, trying to chalk up each day and each interaction as a learning experience.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be around a lot of smart coaches, a lot of smart players, and I’m trying to take something from each one of them and never feel like I know it all,” said Stefanski. “I’ve told the quarterbacks, ‘Listen, I’m going to coach you, but we can have a dialogue about this type of thing, and we’re going to try to get to the best answer, and it’s not going to be a top-down type of thing.’ We try to be as collaborative as we can.”
Being a coaching chameleon has extended Stefanski’s life with the Vikings. While many of his co-workers have moved on — or been removed — Stefanski continues to acclimate to his surroundings and reinvent a new niche.
This year’s niche is a comfortable one, however, as it takes him back to the position where he started eight years ago; coaching Favre, one of the great playmakers of all time.
“I think one of the things you learn from Brett was he was himself all the time,” said Stefanski, “and I think his guys responded to that. That was a good lesson for a young coach to learn.”
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