Soon after the Vikings signed former Titans receiver Tajae Sharpe to a one-year, $1 million contract this week, he received a phone call from offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. Among the subjects of that call was how Sharpe's familiarity with Packers coach Matt LaFleur could ultimately help him fit in Minnesota.
LaFleur's first NFL job was as an offensive assistant in Houston from 2008-09 while Kubiak was the head coach there. His indoctrination in a system similar to the one the Vikings use continued when he worked for Mike Shanahan in Washington from 2010-13. Before becoming the Packers' head coach in 2019, he spent a year calling plays in Tennessee, where Sharpe's work in LaFleur's offense gave the Vikings something of a baseline for how he'd fit under Kubiak in Minnesota.