Teams have been actively trying to poach the Minnesota Vikings’ staff after the team went 14-3 in 2024. The Jacksonville Jaguars hired assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski as their offensive coordinator in 2025. Now, the Vikings will need to replace their Director of Player Performance.
On Monday, Joe Person, who covers the Carolina Panthers for The Athletic, announced the Panthers hired Josh Hingst, who had served as the Vikings’ Director of Player Performance from 2021-24.
Hingst had worked for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2013-20, helping them win Super Bowl LII following the 2017 season. While there, Hingst significantly implemented one of the league’s first data-driven training systems.
In Carolina, Hingst will be the Panthers’ strength and conditioning coach. He replaces Jeremy Scott, who joined the Panthers in 2020 when Matt Rhule took over as head coach.
The Vikings now must replace a member who survived the coaching change from Mike Zimmer to Kevin O’Connell. This regime relies heavily on data and analytics, so finding someone fit for the role and embracing that approach to player performance could be more difficult than it would have been ten years ago.