Grant

Udinski

Udinski spent the last three seasons with the Vikings, working as assistant offensive coordinator and assistant quarterbacks coach in 2024. The emergence of Sam Darnold with the 14-3 Vikings brought him into the light and led to multiple offensive coordinator interviews this hiring cycle. The Jaguars, with newly hired head coach Liam Coen, were the last to interview Udinski. With Jacksonville now officially announcing his hire, Udinski joins Coen and Trevor Lawrence as the team starts to build its offense.

The young coach has been with the Vikings for three years and has been promoted in each offseason with the team. His work with Sam Darnold in 2024 has drawn the attention of several teams during this hiring cycle, with five interviewing him as a potential offensive coordinator. Most of those teams have since gone in different directions, but the Jags and Texans are still on the board for Udinski. Even if Udinski misses out on an offensive coordinator gig this offseason, he should be calling plays for a team within the next few years.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes that this is the fourth interview for Udinski, as he also interviewed with the Patriots before they settled on Josh McDaniels, and recently interviewed with the Buccaneers and Seahawks. It would be more surprising than not if Udinski wasn’t an OC with a new club than not at this point, and a matchup with the Texans after they moved on from Bobby Slowik makes sense on paper.

Udinski served as the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Vikings in 2024. At just 29 years old, he represents a continued emphasis on youth amongst the offensive coaching ranks as the league continues to change. Udinski previously coached for the Panthers for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. It is Udinksi’s third interview for vacant offensive coordinator positions this hiring cycle.

Breer adds that Udinski is reportedly a finalist for the Seahawks offensive coordinator job. The Patriots have returned to being close to the vest on OC interviews, with our only news coming from head coach Mike Vrabel admitting during an interview on WEEI that the team would talk to Josh McDaniels. Udinski, suddenly in demand after helping lead the Sam Darold resurgence and reportedly acting as a mentor for J.J. McCarthy, would be an unorthodox choice on paper but certainly seems to have developed some momentum in the cocoon this season that we didn’t see much of on the outside.

Udinski met with the Seahawks just days ago and will now have a second in-person interview with the team on Friday. The 28-year-old assistant QB coach has played a key role in the success of the Vikings and Sam Darnold since joining Kevin O’Connell’s staff in 2023 and previously worked with the Panthers from 2020-2021. As it stands right now, Udinski and Saints OC Klint Kubiak are the only two coaches to receive second interviews for the Seahawks’ OC vacancy.

The 28-year-old Udinski has been on the Vikings staff since 2022 and was previously a coaching assistant for the Panthers. This is the first known interview request for the young coach. A November Minneapolis Star-Tribune article declared Udinski “the most interesting man on the Vikings coaching staff” and noted that unofficially he’s J.J. McCarthy’s “mentor.” Udinski played tight end and defensive end at Davidson and Towson and also worked as a grad assistant to Matt Rhule before landing on his Panthers staff.