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Michael DiRocco
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Six years ago, Grant Udinski was living in his car in a Walmart parking lot at the start of his coaching career.
On Wednesday night, the Jacksonville Jaguars named him their new offensive coordinator.
The 29-year-old joined new coach Liam Coen’s staff after serving as the assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings this past season. Udinski won’t be calling plays for the Jaguars, however, as Coen said at his introductory news conference that he would be.
“Grant will bring a wealth of knowledge, energy and a winning mindset to help lead our offense here in Jacksonville,” Coen said in a statement. “He is a rising star in this league that has been a pillar of success for the Vikings organization and we can’t wait to have him lead our offense.”
Udinski, who played tight end at Davidson and defensive end at Towson, got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Baylor in 2019 under coach Matt Rhule. The Bucks County Courier Times newspaper reported that Udinski lived in his car in a Walmart parking lot the first week he was in Waco, Texas, before Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Snow found out and invited him to move in.
When Rhule took the Carolina Panthers head-coaching job the following season he brought Snow along as the defensive coordinator and hired Udinski as a coaching assistant.
Rhule was fired after the 2022 season and Udinski landed on Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings staff as assistant to the head coach/special projects. O’Connell promoted Udinski to assistant quarterbacks coach in 2023 and then to assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach in 2024.
Udinski helped Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold resurrect his career in 2024. Darnold set career highs in completion percentage (66.2%), yards (4,319) and touchdown passes (35) and led the Vikings to a 14-2 record.