Coaches

Entering his 5th season on the Vikings staff, George Stewart oversees a talented group of WRs in 2011 highlighted by playmaker Percy Harvin. Stewart enters his 24th season in the NFL and has earned the reputation as a teacher and mentor to some of the top receivers in the game.

Over the years, Stewart has been a part of several successful programs, highlighted by 8 playoff appearances in the past 15 seasons and 3 NFC Championship games with San Francisco in 1997, Atlanta in 2004 and Minnesota in 2009. Recently, Stewart helped win 4 Division titles in the past 9 seasons – consecutive NFC North titles with Minnesota in 2008 and 2009, winning the NFC South with Atlanta in 2004 and an NFC West title in 2002 with San Francisco.

During his Vikings tenure, Stewart has coached Harvin to 2009 Rookie of the Year honors and Sidney Rice to a Pro Bowl berth in 2009.  The 2010 Vikings were hobbled by injuries throughout the season that especially affected the passing game. Rice was limited to 6 games in 2010 and Harvin saw time in 14 while the team started 3 different players at QB. Harvin’s productivity increased in his 2nd pro season, leading the team with 71 receptions for 868 yards and added 18 rushes, including a TD. The dynamic Harvin scored by kickoff return, reception and rush, only the 5th player in Vikings history to accomplish the feat in a season.

The 2009 Vikings became only the 2nd team in NFL history to have 6 players catch 40+ passes in a season and the WR unit stepped up to play at their highest level in recent memory. Rice enjoyed a breakout season and Harvin established himself as multi-talented offensive threat. Rice blossomed into a game-changer in his 3rd season and left his mark on the record book. He tied an NFL playoff record and set a new Vikings post-season mark with 3 TD catches in the NFC Divisional game vs. Dallas. Rice’s 1,312 yards ranked 2nd in the NFC in 2009 and he became only the 4th Vikings WR in team history to eclipse the 1,300-yard mark. Rice’s 201 yards vs. Detroit ranks as the 4th-best single-game mark in Vikings history and his 2 catches of 50+ yards vs. Baltimore tied for the 2nd-best mark in team history.

Stewart was able to get Harvin acclimated to the pro game and spurred him to NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Year. Harvin tied for the NFL rookie lead in receptions and yards. Harvin excelled on offense and special teams, earning a Pro Bowl berth as a return man and setting a new Vikings record with 2,081 total net yards. His 60 catches ranked 2nd only to Randy Moss’ 1998 debut season when he had 69 receptions in Vikings history for rookie catches.

In 2008, the Vikings WRs contributed to much of the success of an improved passing attack. Led by priority free agent signing Bernard Berrian, the Vikings led the NFL with 13 TDs through the air of 20+ yards. Berrian had a career year, setting highs in yards with 964 and TDs with 7. Berrian was on the receiving end of 2 of the 3 longest receptions in Vikings’ history with an 86-yard TD reception vs. Detroit (10/12/08) and a 99-yard TD catch vs. Chicago (11/30/08). The 99-yard strike tied an NFL mark for the longest reception in history and set a Vikings record as the longest play from scrimmage. 

Throughout Stewart’s coaching career, he has been fortunate to learn from some of the game’s all-time greats, beginning both his playing and early coaching careers under college legend Lou Holtz. Stewart went on to work in the NFL side-by-side with Chuck Noll, Sam Wyche, George Seifert and Dan Reeves, all men who led teams to the Super Bowl. 

During Stewart’s tenure in Atlanta, the team won the NFC South title in 2004 and advanced to the NFC Championship game against Philadelphia.  

Prior to joining Atlanta, Stewart was an integral part of the San Francisco 49ers’ success from 1996-2002, as the team advanced to the playoffs 5 times in those 7 seasons. In 1997, the 49ers won the NFC West with a 13-3 mark and eventually lost to Green Bay in the NFC Championship game. During that time, Stewart tutored the 49ers WRs and helped elevate each of Terrell Owens, J.J. Stokes and Tai Streets performances, with Owens making Pro Bowls and All-Pro in 3 straight seasons from 2000-02. Owens had 17 games over the 100-yard receiving mark and 5 games with 150+ yards. Before working with Stewart, Owens’ career-highs for season receptions was 67, a mark he shattered with 97, 93 and 100 respectively in 2000, ’01 and ’02. Owens set his career-high in receiving yards with 1,451 in 2000 and TDs with 16 in 2001. He broke a 50-year-old NFL record when he caught 20 passes for 283 yards against the Bears in 2000 en route to his career-best day.

Stewart’s 1st taste of NFL coaching came in Pittsburgh from 1989-91, where he coached special teams on Noll’s staff. In his debut season in 1989, he helped Rod Woodson to a Pro Bowl as a return man. Following Pittsburgh, Stewart went on to spend 4 years coaching Tampa Bay special teams, where he helped K Mike Husted earn All-Rookie honors in 1993.

Before making the move to the NFL, Stewart spent several years in the college ranks, making his final stop as the Notre Dame LBs coach from 1986-88. Under Holtz’s tutelage, the Irish steadily improved from the coach’s opening season in ‘86 to become national champions in 1988, a year in which the team finished 12-0 and defeated West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. The stingy Irish defense allowed opponents to score over 20 points only twice during the season. Stewart’s unit, which included Arnold Ale and Andre Jones highlighted by consensus All-America choice Frank Stams played a prominent role in the defensive success.

Stewart and Holtz began working together in 1983, when Stewart got his start in coaching as an Arkansas graduate assistant, working with the Razorbacks’ TEs. When Holtz moved from Arkansas to Minnesota as the Golden Gophers head coach in 1984, Stewart accompanied him as the offensive line coach, his 1st exposure to the state where he would return in 2007. In 2 short seasons, Holtz and his staff quickly turned the Gophers program around, finishing 7-5 in 1985 and winning the Independence Bowl over Clemson, the 1st bowl victory for the Gophers since the 1962 Rose Bowl.

Stewart was a standout player as an offensive guard for the Razorbacks from 1977-80 and helped the squad share the 1979 Southwest Conference title. The team played in four straight bowl games during Stewart’s playing tenure as Arkansas returned to national prominence under Holtz. Stewart was an All-SWC honoree as a junior in 1979, served as a team captain in 1980 and earned a spot on the Arkansas Team of the Decade for the 1970s. He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1981 but spent the season on injured reserve.

Stewart has a bachelor’s degree in education from Arkansas and is a native of Little Rock, AR, where he graduated from Parkview High School in 1977.