Vikes add DB coach Scott, Zimmer pal Guenther, kicker Joseph

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings filled out their staff Thursday by hiring Karl Scott as defensive backs coach and Paul Guenther, a longtime colleague of head coach Mike Zimmer, as a senior defensive assistant.

The Vikings also signed kicker Greg Joseph to compete with Dan Bailey after a rough season.

Scott will make his debut in the NFL after spending the last three seasons in the same role at Alabama, where he was a part of the 2020 national championship team. He had previous stops at Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech, Southeastern Louisiana, Tusculum and Delta State.

Guenther was the defensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders the last three years. He worked 13 seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals, with four years as defensive coordinator from 2014-17. He took over that role from Zimmer, who left to become head coach of the Vikings. Guenther and Zimmer overlapped with the Bengals for six seasons.

“Together, we’re all going to get the Vikings' defense back to the standard we expect,” Zimmer said in a statement distributed by the team.

Joseph was signed off Tampa Bay's practice squad. The 26-year-old, who was undrafted out of Florida Atlantic in 2018, has also spent time with Miami, Cleveland, Carolina and Tennessee. He has appeared in 16 regular season games, mostly with the Browns in 2018, with an 85% field goal rate (17 for 20) and an 89.5% mark on extra points (34 for 38). He has touchbacks on 53 of 80 kickoffs.

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