"The good thing is I had the experience of being a special teams coordinator on a day-to-day basis (from 2002-05 at the University of Wisconsin), and I continued to think like a coordinator," Murphy said. "I was an assistant but I never let myself fall into just going along with the system. I was always thinking, `How would I do this or handle this situation?'"

That approach paid off as Murphy was named the Vikings special teams coordinator Tuesday by coach Brad Childress. Ferraro resigned last month to become linebackers coach for the Rams.

Murphy will have plenty of work ahead of him. He takes over a unit that gave up an NFL record seven touchdowns in 2008, including four on punt returns. The Vikings were last in the league in punt coverage, surrendering 14.9 yards per return, and ranked 21st in kick coverage (23.5 yards). The Vikings also lacked stability in their kickoff and punt return games.

Murphy said he went through a formal interview with Childress during which he "took him through from scratch" how he would approach things. The Vikings job is Murphy's first in the NFL but he coached 14 seasons at the collegiate level before joining Childress in Minnesota in 2006.

"I had to deserve this job, and I had to prove that to Brad," Murphy said. "This wasn't a hand the reins over blindly type of deal."

Murphy might have worked under Ferraro but it's clear he wants to put his own stamp on some things.

Asked about the Vikings' special-teams struggles this season, he said: "I don't think there is one thing that if you say, `Hey if we can get that corrected I think we'll be OK.' There are things in a lot of areas that need to be fixed and can be fixed. ... I certainly want to stay away from placing any blame. But there are issues that need to be solved, and we'll address those. I've evaluated those phases and have a good plan going forward starting when players get back (for the offseason program this spring)."

JUDD ZULGAD