Chargers Hire Vikings' Ryan Ficken As Special Teams Coordinator
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A day after news of a head coaching hire trickled out, a longtime Vikings assistant coach is heading for the West Coast.
The Los Angeles Chargers announced Thursday they have hired Ryan Ficken as special teams coordinator. He served the same role in Minnesota last season, and had been with the team for his entire career.
He started as running backs coach in 2007, then moved to the wide receivers room in 2009. From 2013-2020, he was the assistant special teams coach.
Ficken coached standout special-teamer Kene Nwangwu, who this past season was the first player to have multiple kickoff return touchdowns in a season since 2015. That year, Cordarrelle Patterson took two kicks to the house for the Vikings. Ficken also had a hand in Patterson's development.
Sources told WCCO's Mike Max Wednesday that the Vikings plan to hire Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell as head coach after the Super Bowl.