Kevin O’Connell In. Jim Harbaugh Out.

The Minnesota Vikings spent Wednesday speaking and dealing with Jim Harbaugh. Nearly everyone outside the building thought it was a done deal. Apparently there was a misunderstanding. Harbaugh expected to be offered the Vikings head coach job. The Vikings still needed to be convinced that he was the man for the job. After all, it was an interview. No one but those that were there know what happened during the nine hours that Harbaugh was in the building. All we know, per Tom Pelissero, is that the Vikings didn’t make an offer and Harbaugh, per the obvious, is returning to the University of Michigan. As a result, the Vikings returned to where they were before this little dance with Harbaugh began. 

According to Ian Rappoport, Tom Pelissero, Adam Schefter, Jason La Canfora, and the rest of the football scoopers, the Vikings will be hiring Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. Seeing as he still has work to do with the Rams, he won’t be able to start his Vikings head coaching career until after the Super Bowl. 

O’Connell’s Coaching Rise:

Cleveland Browns (2015) Quarterbacks

San Francisco 49ers (2016) Special Projects

Washington Redskins (2017) Quarterbacks

Washington Redskins (2018) Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator

Washington Redskins (2019) Offensive Coordinator 

Los Angeles Rams (2020-present) Offensive Coordinator

A couple things of note from O’Connell’s coaching rise:

2016: With the 49ers, future Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah worked with future Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. This is when and where O’Connell got on the radar of Adofo-Mensah. 

2017: With the Redskins, future Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell coached future Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. 

Football pundits have often said that when teams make a coaching change they often go with a coach that’s the opposite of the previous coach. The Vikings did just that. They parted ways with Mike Zimmer, an older defensive coach. They hired Kevin O’Connell, a young offensive coach. 

Speaking of the age disparity of the past and future Vikings head coach. Zimmer was 57 when he was hired in 2014. O’Connell is 36. Zimmer waited a ridiculous 35 years for his first head coach shot. O’Connell waited seven years. 

O’Connell will be the 10th head coach in Vikings franchise history. Perhaps an oddity in that head coach history, the Vikings have never hired a head coach with prior NFL head coach experience. Only Bud Grant and Dennis Green had prior head coach experience. Grant was previously the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League. Green was previously the head coach at Stanford University. For a few days this week, it looked like the Vikings would hire their first head coach with previous NFL head coach experience. That fell through when the Vikings and Harbaugh went their separate ways yesterday. 

For a hopefully fruitful present and future, the Vikings will be led by 36-year old Kevin O’Connell and 40-year old Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. It’s a different football world in Minnesota. Unlike the previous eight years, the Vikings will have offensive consistency. That’s a very good thing for Kirk Cousins now and any young quarterback that joins the team in the coming year/years. Now, it’s time to put together a coaching staff. O’Connell’s choice of a defensive coordinator will be huge. 

It took just over three weeks (it felt like more) but the Minnesota Vikings finally have their head coach. Unfortunately, there’s another week-plus wait before Kevin O’Connell can start his new job.