EAGAN, Minn. — Minnesota is welcoming new faces to its coaching staff as February gets rolling.
The Vikings on Tuesday announced the hiring of one addition to the offensive staff and two to the defensive staff, the latter offsetting the end of Marcus Dixon's contract and Daronte Jones' departure. Dixon fulfilled his two-year contract as the team's defensive line coach, and Jones was hired away to be the Washington Commanders Defensive Coordinator following four seasons coaching the secondary.
More about each of the new coaches is outlined below. In addition to the new on-boards, the Vikings promoted Keith Carter from assistant offensive line coach to offensive line coach. Carter, 43, was brought in last February to assist former OL coach Chris Kuper, whose contract expired and was not renewed.
Frank Smith — Assistant Head Coach
Age: 44
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
College: Miami (Ohio)
Career Path: walk-on offensive lineman at Miami (Ohio) who evolved into three-year starter and team captain; graduate assistant at his alma mater from 2004-05; offensive line coach at FCS program Butler in 2006; elevated to offensive coordinator at Butler in 2007 and held both titles through 2009; jumped ranks to the pros and joined the New Orleans Saints in 2010 and served as their assistant offensive line coach until becoming the Bears tight ends coach in 2015; became the Raiders tight ends coach in 2018; had a one-year stint as the Chargers running game coordinator/offensive line coach in 2021 before being named named the Dolphins offensive coordinator in 2022 and serving in that role through last season.
Smith, who was voted by players as the top offensive coordinator in the 2023 NFLPA survey, helped Pro Bowl TE Darren Waller with his sobriety during their time together with the Raiders. Waller was quoted in a profile of Smith — touted as the "Dolphins best-kept secret" — by The Athletic in September 2023.
"Frank is my favorite coach I've ever had," Waller said. "It was really just about helping people be better. I feel like that's what would make a great (head) coach. If all you want is the platform, if all you want is the title, you'd be willing to sell somebody out or step on somebody to get there as opposed to elevating them and allowing that good karma to come back to you. I feel like this is an opportunity for him to have all the good karma and good energy to come back his way because all he's ever done is give it out."
Gerald Alexander — Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach
Age: 41
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
College: Boise State
Career Path: played safety at Boise State from 2003-06; second-round draft pick (No. 61 overall) by Detroit in 2007; traded to Jacksonville in 2009; had stints with Carolina, Miami and the Jets; recorded four interceptions, 14 pass breakups, 2.0 sacks and 159 total tackles across 44 career games (30 starts); assisted Arkansas State in 2013; served as a graduate assistant at Washington under his college head coach, Chris Petersen, in 2014; participated in the Bill Walsh Minority Internship Program with the Titans in 2015 training camp and then coached defensive backs at Indiana State; participated in the aforementioned program with the Buccaneers in 2016 and then coached the secondary at Montana State; joined California-Berkeley as the defensive backs coach in 2017 and held that title through 2019 (also had a minority coaching internship with Miami in 2019); hired by then-Dolphins head coach Brian Flores to be Miami's DBs coach in 2020; spent two seasons assisting the Steelers secondary in 2022-23 before joining the Raiders coaching staff to oversee safeties; returned to Pittsburgh as DBs coach in 2025.
Alexander was part of the famous Fiesta Bowl between No. 9 Boise State and No. 7 Oklahoma, a matchup pitting two future Vikings running backs against one another in 2007 first-rounder Adrian Peterson and 2009 undrafted free agent Ian Johnson. The latter received the hand-off on the iconic "Statue of Liberty" play that scored a 2-point conversion to lift the Broncos to a 43-42 victory and 13-0 record. In the third quarter of that game, Alexander nabbed an INT, raising his college pick tally to 10.
He recalled the bowl game in a 2015 Q&A article: "It was unbelievable. When you're caught up in the moment you don't necessarily realize how significant of a moment it is. Me being a 21-year-old kid playing in one of the greatest college football games to ever be played, you don't really realize that at the time."
Ryan Nielsen — Defensive Running Game Coordinator
Age: 46
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
College: USC
Career Path: defensive lineman at Southern California from 1997-2001; participated in 2002 training camp with Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent, and then played one season of Arena Football; returned to his alma mater as a volunteer assistant in 2002; assisted at Idaho in 2004; served as the DL coach at Mississippi from 2005-07; from 2008-09, held numerous titles including defensive coordinator at Central Connecticut State; coached the special teams and the defensive line at Tennessee-Martin in 2010; joined Northern Illinois as DL coach in 2011 and added the co-defensive coordinator tag in 2012; became the DL coach at North Carolina State in 2013 and added defensive run game coordinator responsibilities in 2014; left college for the NFL in 2017 as the Saints DL coach; awarded assistant head coach title in 2021 and switched to be New Orleans' co-defensive coordinator the next year; moved across the division to Atlanta in 2023 as defensive coordinator and DL coach; hired as Jacksonville's defensive coordinator in 2024; and spent this past season as a senior defensive assistant for the Bills.
Nielsen has been described as super intense. In this 2023 feature by The Athletic, players praised his energy. A video from Buffalo's minicamp showed his willingness to get "in the mud" with d-linemen.
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