Vikings hire Karl Scott, Paul Guenther as defensive assistant coaches

EAGAN, Minn. — 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.

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.