Patriots interview Vikings assistant Grant Udinski for offensive coordinator job, per report

A third candidate has interviewed for the offensive coordinator opening in Foxborough.

The New England Patriots met with Minnesota Vikings assistant Grant Udinski for the position on Monday, according to a report from TheMMQB’s Albert Breer.

Udinski, 28, stands as a finalist for the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator vacancy. He spent the past three seasons on head coach Kevin O’Connell’s staff in the NFC North.

After beginning his stay in the role of assistant to the head coach and special projects in 2022, the title of assistant quarterbacks coach followed in 2023, when four different quarterbacks started for Minnesota. And in 2024, Udinski served as the assistant offensive coordinator and assistant quarterbacks coach.

In wake of rookie J.J. McCarthy’s placement on injured reserve to undergo meniscus surgery, veteran Sam Darnold appeared in every game under center while completing 66.2 percent of passes for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns — all career highs — and 12 interceptions.

Udinski, a collegiate tight end and defensive end, caught one pass during his freshman year at Davidson before transferring to Towson. The former walk-on went on to appear in all 12 games as a redshirt senior with the Tigers in 2018, totaling 28 tackles, 4.5 sacks and a trio of forced fumbles. He was named a CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic first-team All-American with a 3.94 undergraduate GPA.

Entering the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Baylor in 2019, Udinski followed current Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule to the NFL with the Carolina Panthers in 2020, working as a coaching assistant for two seasons.

In wake of rookie J.J. McCarthy’s placement on injured reserve to undergo meniscus surgery, veteran Sam Darnold appeared in every game under center while completing 66.2 percent of passes for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns — all career highs — and 12 interceptions.

Udinski, a collegiate tight end and defensive end, caught one pass during his freshman year at Davidson before transferring to Towson. The former walk-on went on to appear in all 12 games as a redshirt senior with the Tigers in 2018, totaling 28 tackles, 4.5 sacks and a trio of forced fumbles. He was named a CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic first-team All-American with a 3.94 undergraduate GPA.

Entering the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Baylor in 2019, Udinski followed current Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule to the NFL with the Carolina Panthers in 2020, working as a coaching assistant for two seasons.

Last week, head coach Mike Vrabel’s Patriots interviewed Thomas Brown and Marcus Brady for offensive coordinator — a position held by Alex Van Pelt during No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye’s rookie campaign.