Bercich joins KFAN team

Former Vikings linebacker and assistant coach Pete Bercich has been hired by KFAN to serve as analyst on radio broadcasts of the team’s games this season.

Bercich, who was fired along with the rest of former coach Mike Tice's staff at the end of the 2005 season, said he was excited to get the job and is looking forward to working with play-by-play man Paul Allen and sideline reporter Greg Coleman.

"It's not coaching, but I guess it's the next-best thing," Bercich, who will keep his full-time job as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, said. "It's a good way to get my football fix and it's a little more family-friendly."

Bercich, 35, replaces former Vikings analyst Joe Senser, who decided to step down after last season.

The former linebackers coach wouldn't rule out a return to coaching, but Bercich said that's not something he's pursuing.

"If those things are going to happen, they're going to happen," he said. "They're kind of like earthquakes. You never want to say never, but I think this puts the final nail in the coffin as far as that goes."