Vikings Fill Two More Spots

After firing two assistants from Mike Tice’s staff earlier this week, new head Brad Childress made their replacements official Thursday.

The Vikings hired two new assistant coaches Thursday, filling their recent vacancies in strength and conditioning and head trainer after Brad Childress fired Kurtis Shultz and Chuck Barta, respectively, earlier this week.

The Vikings named Tom Kanavy as strength and conditioning coach and Eric Sugarman as head athletic trainer. Both come to the Vikings after stints with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles achieved success as a team on the field during Kanavy and Sugarman’s tenure, as the duo combined to help 21 Eagles earn 47 Pro Bowl honors.

Kanavy became the Eagles’ first full-time strength and conditioning assistant in 1997 after working with the team since 1995. He was part of Eagles teams that amassed a 99-76-1 regular season record and advanced to the playoffs in seven of his 11 seasons with the club. Kanavy worked under former Vikings strength and conditioning assistant Mike Wolf in Philadelphia. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Penn State and master’s from Temple. As an assistant at Penn State, Kanavy worked with the Nittany Lions football program, as the 1994 team went 12-0 en route to the Big Ten championship in only the 2nd season in the conference and a Rose Bowl win over Oregon.

Sugarman will enter his 10th NFL season in 2006 after spending 2000-05 with Philadelphia and 1997-99 with the Chicago Bears. In his six seasons with the Eagles, Sugarman has been a part of squads that have gone 65-31 in the regular season. He began his professional sports career as director of rehabilitation for the Chicago Cubs in 1996 after working in athletic training and serving as an instructor in 1994-95 at his alma mater, West Chester University. Sugarman earned his bachelor’s degree at West Chester and went on to earn his master’s degree at the University of Richmond. In 2003, Sugarman earned the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society’s “Big Heart” award for saving the life of a fellow employee by performing CPR in 2003.