Brian Pariani
Brian Pariani (born July 2, 1965) is an American football tight ends coach in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, Pariani has worked every season alongside Gary Kubiak, for the exception of the 2005 season, when Pariani worked at Syracuse University.
| Minnesota Vikings | |
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| Position: | Tight ends coach |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | July 2, 1965 San Francisco, California |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Marin (CA) Catholic |
| College: | UCLA |
| Career history | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Coaching
Pariani has more than 30 years of coaching experience, and over 20 coaching tight ends all of them with Gary Kubiak with the exception of the 2005 season, when Pariani was at Syracuse. Hall of Fame Tight end Shannon Sharpe was named to 4 consecutive Pro Bowls (1995-1998) and 3 straight All-Pro teams (1996-98)under Pariani.On February 7, 2016, Pariani was part of the Broncos coaching staff that won Super Bowl 50. In the game, the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers by a score of 24–10.[1] Pariani was fired from the Denver Broncos on January 12, 2017.
Brian Pariani returns for his 2nd season as the TEs coach for the Vikings in 2020, bringing the experience of coaching 3 Pro Bowl TEs and 1 Hall of Famer. Pariani was part of Super Bowl winning clubs with San Francisco (Super Bowl XXIX) and Denver (XXXII and XXXIII), most recently winning Super Bowl 50 to cap the 2015 season.
Pariani has been a part of some of the most prolific and balanced offenses in the league. His teams have finished in the Top 5 in total offense on 15 occasions, ranking 5th or higher in passing offense (9 times) and rushing offense (11 times) in 21 of those seasons. In 2019, Pariani was reunited on the Vikings staff with Gary Kubiak, who he coached with in San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Baltimore and now Minnesota. Pariani’s TEs have contributed to teams that have posted 5 different 4,000-yard passing seasons and 11 total 2,000-yard rushing campaigns during his 21 years coaching that unit.
With nearly 3 decades of coaching experience and 4 Super Bowl titles, Pariani tutored the Vikings TEs as the club adopted a new offense for 2019. Under Pariani’s guidance, veteran TE Kyle Rudolph recorded 6 receiving TDs in 2019 to tie for 2nd-most among NFC TEs while cementing his place in the Vikings record book. Rudolph finished the season with 425 career receptions and 4,154 career receiving yards, trailing only Steve Jordan for the franchise lead among TEs in both categories. Overall, his 425 receptions are the 5th-most in franchise history. With Pariani’s help, rookie TE Irv Smith Jr. also had a breakout first season, notching 36 receptions in 2019 to set a new Vikings record for receptions by a rookie TE. Rudolph (39) and Smith (36) ranked 3rd and 4th on the team in receptions and Rudolph’s game-winning TD catch at New Orleans in the Wild Card Playoff game gave the Vikings their 1st OT playoff win in team history. The TE group contributed to the offense notching a 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver in the same season for the 1st time since 2009 and QB Kirk Cousins had the best statistical season of his career. The unit helped RB Dalvin Cook break the 1,000-yard mark.[2]
Family
Pariani and his wife, Stephanie, have 2 daughters.