Imarjaye Albury Sr. (im-MAR-jay AL-berry) returns to the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff as a defensive assistant after spending the 2022 season as a pro scout, working under General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Prior to his role as a pro scout, Albury spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons with Minnesota as defensive quality control/assistant linebackers coach and brings five seasons of NFL experience to O'Connell's staff.
In 2021, Albury got his first opportunity to lead a defensive line in the NFL against the Los Angeles Rams, with former co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson missing Week 16. Overall on the year, Albury oversaw the growth of second-year pass rusher D.J. Wonnum, helping him to 8.0 sacks in 2021. Albury played a big role in the development of defensive end Kenny Willekes, a former 7th-round pick/practice squad player, who posted 2.5 sacks in six games played. Albury also oversaw a defensive line that contributed to recording 51.0 sacks in 2021, the most sacks since 1992.
In 2020, multiple players stepped into leadership roles on the defensive line as DT Jaleel Johnson led the line in tackles with 44, and DE Ifeadi Odenigbo totaled 3.5 sacks and a team-leading 12 quarterback hurries. Rookie DE D.J. Wonnum stood out in his debut campaign, posting 24 tackles, 3.0 sacks, a team-leading 5 TFLs and 1 FF. He was 1 of only 3 rookie defensive linemen in the NFL to record at least 3.0 sacks and forced a fumble in 2020. Overall, he played 467 defensive snaps, the 8th-most among rookie linemen in the league.
Prior to arriving in Minnesota, Albury spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons as a defensive graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas, where he worked primarily with the defensive line. In addition to assisting the defensive line coach and defensive staff in game planning and practice management, he aided in recruiting for the Southeastern Conference program. While at Arkansas, he coached and tutored defensive lineman Armon Watts, who was selected by the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft following a seven-sack season in 2018.
Before joining the Razorbacks, Albury worked with NAIA-member Ave Maria Univerisity in Florida, during the spring of 2018, leading the defensive line through winter and spring conditioning and assisting in recruiting.
Albury began his coaching career in 2017 at NCAA Division III Cortland State University in Cortland, New York, working as the defensive line and special teams coach. Under his tutelage the Red Dragons recorded 31 sacks as a team in 2017, second-most in the Empire 8 Conference, while Albury's special teams unit also led the conference with six field goal blocks. Albury was responsible for recruiting New York, New Jersey, and Florida.
Albury's coaching career also included brief stints with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, where he served as a guest coach during the team's 2019 training camp, and Western Carolina, where he briefly was on staff as the defensive ends coaching before being hired by the Vikings.
As a player, Albury spent one season at West Virginia in 2012 before transferring to Florida International, where he was a three-year starter along the defensive line for the Panthers. Albury finished with 76 career tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks over 36 game appearances at FIU, serving as a team captain and earning the program's Defensive MVP award in 2016. After participating in the 2017 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, Albury would briefly spend time at both the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Chargers 2017 rookie mini camps before jumping into the coaching ranks.
Albury attended Miami Northwestern High School, the same high school as former Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater. Albury and his wife, Brittany, have a son, Imarjaye Jr., who goes by "Junior" and a daughter, Jordyn.
