EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings promoted Ryan Ficken to special teams co-ordinator and hired Josh Hingst as strength and conditioning coach on Monday.

Ficken is the longest-tenured coach on the staff, entering his 15th season with Minnesota. He was the assistant special teams coach for eight years and will now replace Marwan Maalouf, whose contract was not renewed after two seasons in the role. Special teams were a major problem in 2020 for the Vikings, from missed kicks to short punts to bad snaps to coverage lapses and penalties.

Hingst was the strength and conditioning coach for the Philadelphia Eagles for the past eight seasons. He replaces Mark Uyeyama, who had the job for the past four years.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer still must also hire a new offensive co-ordinator, with the retirement of Gary Kubiak.

___

More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL