Harrison Smith brings continuity to the Vikings. He’s benefitting from it on the coaching side, too

Harrison Smith asked himself a series of questions as he made his decision about whether to return for a 14th season with the Vikings.

Do I think I can contribute at a high level?

Does the team still want me?

Is it still fun?

What are we chasing, and how realistic is it?

The veteran safety said his decision to continue his playing career was one he “struggled less with” this season than before the 2024 season. Smith signed a one-year, $11-million deal on March 12.

Smith has been a safety blanket of sorts through the infancy of coach Kevin O’Connell and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s tenures with the Vikings, a fact both have commented on throughout the offseason both before and after Smith made his decision.

“I joked with him, ‘You know, you’ve been a safety here as long as I’ve been a GM,’ ” Adofo-Mensah said Thursday. “He said, ‘Buddy, there’s going to be a day where that’s not gonna happen.’ And I don’t look forward to that day, but he’s been such a great player here.”

The Vikings returned Monday to TCO Performance Center in Eagan to begin their offseason program, their fourth under O’Connell since he was hired from the Rams staff in 2022.

Continuity was also a key for Smith as he made his decision.

An emotional postgame locker room interview following the Vikings’ season-ending playoff loss to the Rams fueled speculation Smith would finally hang up his cleats.

But he said he felt in that moment he would don his pads again. Instead, he was mourning the brotherhood he knew couldn’t be replicated in 2025.

“You’re kind of not thinking super clearly in those moments, especially knowing that the 2024 team, you’re never gonna get that group of guys together again, no matter how many stick around for the following year,” Smith said. “I didn’t want to take away from that at the time.”

The Vikings did end up retaining a solid core of that brotherhood, including cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. Their biggest loss was safety Camryn Bynum, who signed a four-year, $60-million deal with the Colts.

The continuity on the coaching side was even more important for Smith, who called playing for defensive coordinator Brian Flores “a blast” and stressed the importance of his relationship with defensive backs coach Daronte Jones, too.

Smith has played for six defensive coordinators through his career, the longest tenured being George Edwards (2014-19).

Jones spent the 2020 season as defensive backs coach when Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer served as co-defensive coordinators. He spent the next season at Louisiana State but returned for Ed Donatell’s single season as Vikings coordinator in 2022 and then was retained by Flores.

Smith has worked so closely with Jones, who serves as the Vikings passing game coordinator, that he can coach himself up in-game just as the coach would, without coming to the sideline.

Smith said he knows what to expect day in and day out from Flores and his staff. He knows it will always be productive and well-thought.

As a self-proclaimed “grumpy old vet,” Smith said, that’s valuable.

“You just lose patience for certain things,” he added. “Not in a bad way, it’s just, ‘What are we doing today, and how is that going to help us win? And how is that gonna make my job more clear-cut?’ ”

Both Flores and Jones interviewed for jobs elsewhere this offseason. Flores was a candidate for head coaching jobs with the Jets, Jaguars and Bears; Jones attracted attention for some defensive coordinator openings.

Instead, both return to the Vikings staff to build on a season where the defense led the league in interceptions. They get to work with Smith, their most tenured locker room voice and still a strong playmaker.

Smith said he thinks Flores knew he would be back before he had officially made the decision. There wasn’t a formal conversation in the same way Smith called O’Connell to tell him football talk was OK again.

Still, Flores had a question when Smith made it official.

“Well, what about 15 years?”

To get exclusive analysis by Ben Goessling on the Vikings in your inbox, sign up for the free Access Vikings newsletter. Email your Vikings questions to accessvikings@startribune.com.