Last summer, longtime NFL quarterback Colt McCoy was trying to explain what made Kevin O’Connell different from other NFL coaches.
“As smart as he is with X’s and O’s,” McCoy said, “he’s equally as good at legit coaching. Like, coaching.”
What did that — coaching — mean?
“How do I bring together all of these players?” McCoy said. “How do I get these 25-year-olds and veteran players with families to believe in each other? People think, ‘These are just millionaires.’ But no, it can be a team.”
Shaping them into a team falls on the head coach. He has to value chemistry, first and foremost, but he also has to be aware and savvy. McCoy’s point was that O’Connell, whom he had played for years ago in Washington, understood all of this.
Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill summed up O’Connell’s impact on the Vikings’ sterling grades on last year’s NFLPA player survey by saying, “He is the report card. He sets the tone for the entire building.”
And that is why Tuesday’s news was such a foregone conclusion. The Vikings extended O’Connell’s contract for multiple seasons, securing the coach who won 30 games quicker than any other coach in team history.
GO DEEPER
Vikings, HC Kevin O’Connell agree to multi-year extension
The list of accomplishments does not end there. O’Connell, 39, is the first Vikings coach to have multiple 13-win seasons. Both happened within his first three seasons. By winning 14 games in 2024, O’Connell joined George Seifert as the only coach since 1950 to produce two 13-win seasons in three years with two different starting quarterbacks. Seifert accomplished the feat with Joe Montana and Steve Young; O’Connell with Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold.
Only the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens have won more games than the Vikings since O’Connell became the head coach in 2022. In the last two decades, the only coaches to win at a higher clip during their first 51 games are Matt LaFleur, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McVay and Bruce Arians.
None of this was lost on Vikings ownership, which a team source said has also begun discussions with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah about a contract extension. Reports suggesting teams were intrigued by the idea of trading for O’Connell failed to mention Minnesota’s utter lack of interest in those conversations. Ownership waited to watch the 2024 season play out before deciding on O’Connell’s future. In August, co-owner Mark Wilf told reporters the team would revisit those discussions after the season. Winning as impressively as the Vikings did made the decision easy.
Your head coach, Kevin O’Connell, on agreeing to terms on a contract extension. pic.twitter.com/Y2mC3FzjoN
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) January 21, 2025
Late in the season, ownership and O’Connell’s agent, Trace Armstrong of Athletes First, were scheduled to meet. The chat was delayed for various reasons unrelated to the contract. Conversations resumed when the season ended, with O’Connell saying last week, “I’ve had great dialogue with our ownership this week and reflection as the season came to an end.”
Could the Vikings have mirrored the Miami Dolphins’ timeline with Mike McDaniel before the 2024 season and extended O’Connell then? They could have. At the time, O’Connell and Mike McDaniel had the same record (20-14). Did the Vikings’ success this season result in a higher salary and greater influence for O’Connell? Almost certainly.
This is what happens when a team projected to hover around .500 makes a push for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, when a maligned young quarterback throws for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns. O’Connell also was operating with minimal cap space (due to the immense dead cap hits from Cousins and Danielle Hunter) and a lack of production from recent drafts.
Throughout the season, praise for O’Connell flooded in from all corners of the league. Peyton Manning gushed about O’Connell on Kevin Clark’s podcast. Agent Drew Rosenhaus highlighted O’Connell in a conversation with Pat McAfee. Greg Olsen said on the Vikings-Falcons broadcast: “If you’re starting a franchise and you need a great coach, play-caller, QB whisperer — he might be the guy.”
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To comprehend the job he has done in three seasons, you must start in his office. The lines and shapes drawn on his massive whiteboard reveal the roots of the choreography that comes to life on Sundays. Move out of the office and you’ll notice how relaxed the vibe tends to be in the building, a culture reimagined after having soured under former coach Mike Zimmer. Exit the TCO Performance Center and you’ll see billboards of Justin Jefferson, who chose to remain in Minnesota due in no small part to the relationship he has built with O’Connell.
What would this Vikings team have accomplished if O’Connell had not lured defensive coordinator Brian Flores from Pittsburgh? What would the Vikings’ future look like if O’Connell had not spearheaded the scouting process that led to J.J. McCarthy? Tuesday’s news captures all of these leadership elements: the front-facing role he plays with the media and the behind-the-scenes choices he makes with his support staff.
This extension does two things. It confirms ownership’s belief in O’Connell as a leader and it bets on him being willing to push even further. Maybe that means re-evaluating a commitment to the run game. Maybe it means seeking modern developmental practices. The goal, Wilf reiterated in a statement, is “sustained success” and the pursuit of “a championship for Vikings fans.”
O’Connell’s part in that will be as important as anyone’s, which is why this extension was on top of the Vikings’ to-do list in what is bound to be another massive offseason.
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
