The Vikings had several needs coming off a 15-win season in 1998. "I came from a business where your job is to not be emotional and if you make emotional decisions, you typically make bad decisions. Adofo-Mensah also stated that there are a lot of other factors to consider what type of quarterback the Vikings could be looking for. His net worth is somewhere between $30 million to $35 million. 1. The survey of more than 1,300 players that looked at numerous aspects of an organization from facilities to treatment of families to training staff gave the Vikings the highest grade of any team in the NFL. [19], O'Connell was hired to the offensive staff of the San Francisco 49ers on February 26, 2016. "When you involve people, it can make the job a lot tougher, but I also think the people aspect is what culture is and that's important," Adofo-Mensah added. He also writes for Bring Me The News and The Viking Age and hosts The Homer Horn Podcast. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Kevin will tease me about that sometimes. In addition to helping QB Jared Goff to his fourth consecutive season with at least 3,800 passing yards and 20 touchdowns in 2020, O'Connell prepared QB John Wolford for a win-and-in game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17, helping him pass for 231 yards and rush for 56 more in his NFL debut, while leading the Rams to a 18-7 victory and a playoff berth. Kevin William O'Connell (born May 25, 1985), nicknamed " KOC ", [1] is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). That was somebody that was as important as anybody for me to bring to this organization I didnt know there was going to be a survey, it didnt matter to me, but I knew what that would look like with Tyler, Kwesi and myself and how we build things.. OConnell is well aware. It's supposed to sting.' "He understands what is critical to leading a team that wins at the highest level, and he has an ability to simplify the complex, which will help us in problem-solving in all football areas. Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell, wife Leah welcome fourth child Some believe that is too rich for an aging playmaker and have subsequently speculated about Thielens fate in 2023. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. Coming off a Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, O'Connell. NFL footage NFL Productions LLC. Theres a reason I feel so strongly about Kirk. Along the way, personal relationships grew. But it was part of the process to find a long-term solution. Scouting Combine live updates Top 150 free agents Beat writer . O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah have emphasized collaboration throughout their first year together, and the first-time head coach picked up where the first-time GM left off: "As I told our team it's supposed to sting. O'Connell's NFL coaching career began in 2015; he held various assistant coaching roles on the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, and Los Angeles Rams (where he won Super Bowl LVI, as offensive coordinator, in the 20212022 season). We want to be there consistently with the chance to win it.". Certainly the facilities would have gotten an A+ last year but its hard to imagine they would have ranked No. For O'Connell to coach Jefferson for a "really long time," the star receiver will need a contract extension. "As crazy as this sounds, leading the league in yards and receptions, I think he and I have just scratched the surface of where we want to go as an offense, particularly with him as our premier receiver," O'Connell said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. Passing, he ranked tenth in yardage, eighth in attempts, and seventh in completions. From Week 14 through the wild-card loss to the Giants, the Vikings faced 190 snaps against defenses that played with the middle of the field open, by far the highest in the league during that period. Predictability, then, provides comfort to defenses. I dont know. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. O'Connell was asked today if Donatell will be back and didn't . But I did want to take the time to reflect and to move forward in the right way," O'Connell said. The 2020 Rams offense featured the 10th-ranked rushing attack, posting 126.1 yards per game on the ground, behind two 600-plus rushing seasons from RB Cam Akers and RB Darrell Henderson. O'Connell was claimed off waivers by the Jets on September 4, 2011.[16]. The personnel department continued to be on the lookout for players who became available after their release by other teams, and the coaching staff usually helped integrate the acquired player quickly, whether it was Za'Darius Smith in Week 1 or T.J. Hockenson in Week 9. 4 takeaways from Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell's combine press conference While some coaches chose not to attend this years combine, OConnell places considerable value on meeting players in person. Who is Leah O'Connell, Wife of the Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O The Vikings Will Benefit From Their Revamped Team Culture, Theres One Ideal Way To Deal With Danielle Hunters Contract. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. The process was complicated by the lack of free agency and offseason movement due to the NFLs player lockout. Coming off a Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, O'Connell joins the Vikings after serving as the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams the past two seasons. Sure, it may not be good as a fresh bowl of General Tsaos Chicken, but it beats not having Chinese food at all. "It's so easy from my background to sit in front of a spreadsheet and make decisions and talk about things. [4][5] At SDSU, where he was a four-year team captain, he started 21 games, the sixth-most among SDSU quarterbacks, and ranked first in school history in career rushing yards and second in career rushing touchdowns among quarterbacks; in 2007 he led the team in rushing yards. ", "Making sure that the standard of knowing we've got the culture, knowing we've got the right things going in this building," O'Connell said. The wait is over for Minnesota Vikings fans who were a bit . Part of their jobs during the comprehensive evaluation process will be setting aside those personal relationships and not letting them interfere with the process of building the 2023 Vikings to have the best chance at a championship and be within the constraints of the NFL's salary cap. He spent his childhood in Carlsbad, California, where he attended La Costa Canyon High School. In basketball, he was a two-year letterman, and a teammate of Arizona standout Chase Budinger. (OConnell is 6-foot-5, so his frame provides a solid comparison.). The offensive line's sack rate, 4.5%, was the fifth-lowest in the NFL over the past two years. O'Connell has an older sister, Kelly, who is an attorney. So theres not one right way.. OConnell did note that safety Lewis Cine was ahead of schedule in his rehab from a severe leg injury suffered in London last season and that Cine has been at TCO Performance Center making regular stop-ins to his office. Kevin O'Connell, fresh off a Super Bowl victory as the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordinator, was introduced as the Minnesota Vikings next head coach on Thursday, and the big takeaway from . Kupp's 145 receptions and 1,947 receiving yards both ranked as the second-highest single-season totals in NFL history, trailing only Michael Thomas's 149 receptions in 2019 and Calvin Johnson's 1,964 receiving yards in 2012. His teammates voted him as a captain for what he means not only to our organization but the Twin Cities. Since then, there have been postseason appearances after the 2012 (loss in Wild Card), 2015 (loss in Wild Card), 2017 (loss in NFC Championship), 2019 (loss in Divisional) and 2022 (loss in Wild Card) seasons. I think the priority first and foremost is giving him time to evaluate our roster with our young players and some of our veteran players and see how pieces may fit, OConnell said. [But you] sit in exit meetings with players, and it becomes personal at that point," Adofo-Mensah said. Vikings, Cousins agree to 1-year, $35M contract extension OConnell explained Wednesday that that process ranged from reviewing game-management decisions to gauging his teams success in various schemes and plays. "Reflecting on what we were able to accomplish as a football team an NFC North title and 13 wins it goes beyond that. Login Here. Vikings to hire Kevin O'Connell after being turned down by Jim Harbaugh That will motivate us to lead this organization to the place we want to go. There also were road losses at Detroit and Green Bay after the calendar flipped to December. Following his release, the New York Jets re-signed O'Connell to a two-year deal. But in Kevin OConnells case on Wednesday, he was able to beam about the Vikings culture after an NFL Players Association survey showed proof that he made good on the cultural promises he made at the last NFL Combine. The coach has made it a priority to educate himself on the particulars of the teams cap constraints. The obvious answer? O'Connell led the Vikings to a 134 record on the season, tying Matt LaFleur and Jim Harbaugh for the second-most wins for a rookie head coach in NFL history. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. He takes it very seriously how much people and young kids look up to him. Use of any marks, trademarks, or logos on this website shall not constitute a sponsorship or endorsement by the trademark holder. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah & Kevin O'Connell Begin 2023 Vikings Standard Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, The Sopranos, and The Doors (the band). We haven't shown our ability to come in year-in, year-out and do those things. He played one season for the Patriots behind QB Matt Cassel following a season-ending injury to QB Tom Brady. 2. Kevin O'Connell signed a 1 year, - contract with the San Diego Chargers, including an average annual salary of -. O'Connell rushed for a touchdown in the 2008 preseason against the New York Giants in the fourth quarter, in a game the Patriots eventually lost 1914. The Vikings were unable to officially announce that they were hiring O'Connell until after Los Angeles' playoff run came to an end. Adofo-Mensah had to explain how the Vikings, a team in salary cap hell, were going to shed salary while building off the team's first 13-win season since 2017. . 3. Sometimes how you have to reinvent yourself week in and week out, OConnell said. He categorized the current state of rushing in the NFL into three separate strategies: deploying a running quarterback, operating in the run-pass option world, and going the traditional route with run-pass deception from under center. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott's cap hit might be rising in 2023, but owner Jerry Jones believes his quarterback has the ability to bridge the gap in any talent the roster might lose because of it. The assessments of inherited players were made a year ago through film study and advanced metrics. This time of year tends to be a difficult time when youre talking about players futures and how they affect the greater picture of our team, and those conversations are ongoing, he said. Conversely, when the Vikings ran for zero or negative yards on first down, something they did more than any other team in the league aside from the Jaguars, they would then be fighting uphill. O'Connell is the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, so he can't officially become the Vikings' new head coach until after the Super Bowl. None of that is to say OConnell is not evaluating quarterbacks in this years draft. During the 2018 season, O'Connell was tasked with getting three different quarterbacks (Josh Johnson, Colt McCoy and Mark Sanchez) up to speed following a devastating injury to starting QB Alex Smith. One thing he knows is that no matter how many As he got in a survey or wins he posted as a first-year coach, that doesnt mean they can do it all again the same way and get the same results. I think theres a conversation to be had to really see what that looks like: playing time and roles and responsibilities., "I feel better than I ever have about our chances moving forward." To say I'm excited about coaching Justin for a really long time is an understatement.". Visit NFL.com's transaction hub for a daily breakdown. The Minnesota Vikings named Kevin O'Connell as the 10th head coach in franchise history on Feb. 16, 2022. "But I wouldn't say that we're that established, 'there' team because we haven't shown it yet. O'Connell coached QB Kirk Cousins in 2017, helping him throw for more than 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns, and record a career-high 342 rushing yards and a league-leading four game-winning drives. Ive spent a lot of time with Rob [Brzezinski] and Kwesi [Adofo-Mensah], and well continue to do that in anticipation of being at a certain place by the league year like we need to be and then, How do we go forward building it from there?.