Why did Rick Dennison leave the coaching staff of the Minnesota Vikings?

Minnesota Vikings offensive line coach Rick Dennison will vacate his place on the team after refusing to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. After yesterday’s NFL vaccine policy, it’s only a matter of time, but it’s amazing to see the coach becoming the first person to lose his job due to this issue.

Rick Dennison as Minnesota Vikings OL coach due to COVID-19 vaccine

Rick Dennison has served as the coach and game coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings OL for the past two seasons. After refusing to be vaccinated, he will become the first position coach to part ways with the team.

The NFL requires all Tier 1 employees to be vaccinated, and players do not need to do so, but if they do not vaccinate, they will face major consequences. Coaches, front desk staff, scouts, and equipment managers are all marked as first-level employees.

Tier 1 employees can only be exempted from vaccinations for legitimate religious or medical reasons. Any Tier 1 staff member who has not been vaccinated may not be on the court, in meetings, or interact with any players, coaches or staff.

Phil Rauscher stepped in

The Minnesota Vikings will promote assistant OL coach Phil Rauscher to replace Denison. Former Auburn team analyst Ben Steele will be hired to replace Rauscher. For the Minnesota Vikings, the timing couldn’t be worse, because they lost a key coach before training camp.

The NFL issued a memo on Thursday stating that if a game cannot be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it will be confiscated. The team at fault suffers losses in their records and is financially responsible for any losses. The main gain is that the two teams that participated in the abstention did not receive the fifth paragraph of the basic salary for that week.

Like DeAndre Hopkins and Leonard Fournett Oppose the new policy on Twitter, stating that they don’t want to enter a league that makes them feel like they are forced to vaccinate or risk harming the team and teammates. They even speculate about the idea of ​​retirement.

Rick Dennison’s withdrawal from the Minnesota Vikings was only the first domino. Any level 1 staff who refuses to be vaccinated basically have their hands tied behind their backs. Most teams then need to transfer to someone else to avoid any problems or fines.

After the announcement, all eyes were on the NFL. We can see that more coaches and players opt out of the vaccine, and may even quit their jobs.