Imarjaye Albury Sr. (im-MAR-jay AL-berry) enters his fifth season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 and fourth as a member of the Vikings coaching staff, having spent the 2022 season as a pro scout working under General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Albury served as defensive quality control/assistant linebackers coach in each of his first two seasons in Minnesota (2020-21) and brings seven years of coaching experience, both collegiate and professional, to Head Coach Kevin O'Connell's staff.
In his first season as defensive assistant in 2023, Albury helped the Vikings defense improve from 31st overall in 2022 to 16th in 2023, including posting top-eight rankings in both rushing yards per play (fourth) and rushing yards per game (eighth). The Vikings led the NFL in forced fumbles with 21, three more than any other team in the league, and it marked the most forced fumbles in a single season in franchise history since 2007 when the team also forced 21.
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 seventh-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 defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson led the line in tackles with 44, and defensive end 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 five tackles for loss and one forced fumble. He was one of only three 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 eighth-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, N.Y., 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 briefly spent 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 quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Albury and his wife, Brittany, have a son, Imarjaye Jr., who goes by "Junior" and a daughter, Jordyn.
