While Vikings fans await news on the Brian Flores front or other coaching staff changes, a veteran coach on the staff says “goodbye” to the NFL. Assistant head coach Mike Pettine is retiring, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced on Tuesday.
O’Connell appeared in front of the media on Tuesday for his annual season-ending press conference and he quickly provided the Pettine update.
“Regarding our coaching staff, I don’t really have any concrete updates at this point but I did want to make sure today I highlight the career of Mike Pettine.
“Coach Pett is gonna be retiring this year. What a career he has had, specifically for me, his impact on my football journey both when I was around him as a player to him giving me the first opportunity to coach in this league and then being a major part of our success over the four years we’ve had from really being the first person in the building when I first arrived back in 2022. I want to take the moment to make sure we celebrate him and the great career that it’s been and most importantly just the relationship and impact he’s had on me.”
Pettine was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2015 when he hired O’Connell as his QB coach to work with Johnny Manziel. Previously, O’Connell was Manziel’s (among others) private QB coach, but his first job in the NFL was under Pettine. Defensive ace Pettine was fired after the 2015 season (his record was 10-22) and O’Connell was not retained for a second season.
After stints in San Francisco, Washington, and the Los Angeles Rams, O’Connell was hired as Minnesota’s head coach in 2022. He then returned the favor by employing Pettine as assistant head coach, a role he has held ever since. In 2024, he also became the outside linebackers coach. In a behind-the-scenes role, Pettine might have influenced O’Connell early in his Vikings tenure, given Pettine’s head-coaching experience, which O’Connell lacked.
Pettine worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh in 1993 and 1994. Then, he was a high school head coach for seven years until former Vikings coordinator and then Ravens head coach Brian Billick hired him as a coaching assistant in Baltimore.
He then had stints as the assistant DL coach and the OLB coach in Baltimore. In 2009, Pettine became the defensive coordinator of the New York Jets. Four years later, the Buffalo Bills hired him as their DC, and then the Browns as the HC in 2014.
Once his time in Cleveland ended, he took some time off until the Packers called when they needed a new defensive coordinator in 2018. He served in that role for three years. Vikings fans probably remember the season the club added Za’Darius Smith, who then haunted Kirk Cousins.
In 2021, Pettine had one season as a senior defensive assistant with the Bears. Then, his time with the Vikings started and it will be his final NFL gig.
The Vikings now have an open position. They could hire another coach as assistant head coach, or they could offer that job title to Brian Flores as a sweetener in the DC proposal.
Pettine is 59 years old.
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