While nothing can be made official until after the Super Bowl is played, the Minnesota Vikings are fully expected to hire Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell to replace Mike Zimmer as the team’s head coach. Like any major changeover, there’s always some question as to how the existing pieces fit the new regime’s plan. Yet, it appears one of the Vikings’ best players, Justin Jefferson, is excited about the team’s new direction.
Before Vikings fans got swept up in the idea of Jim Harbaugh becoming the new coach, Jefferson had a not-so-subtle tweet that probably should have garnered more attention than it did at the time. Now, two weeks later we’re left wondering if Jefferson maybe knew more about the future plans in Minnesota than anyone else did.
Call him a prophet if you want, but this could just be the latest sign that the new regime led by Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is more receptive to his key player’s desires than what they’re used to in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. This is a very good sign if they hope to capitalize on arguably their best player’s skill set.
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Justin Jefferson excited about Kevin O’Connell
More recently, Jefferson spoke on the record about the likely hire of Kevin O’Connell to be the team’s head coach in 2022 when talking with Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.
Is… Is that a jab at his former head coach Mike Zimmer at the end? You betcha. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Jefferson doesn’t seem like the type to hold grudges or publicly complain about his colleagues, but it’s tough to ignore.
Zimmer, as we all remember, had a demand to run the ball more than they threw it. With Dalvin Cook, that’s not a bad game plan, but the added explosiveness of Justin Jefferson also has to be factored into that gameplan and even down to the final game of his coaching career with the Vikes, it just didn’t seem like JJ was featured enough.
Maybe that changes with O’Connell at the helm. If Cooper Kupp and the Los Angeles Rams are an example, Justin Jefferson figures to be in a great position to succeed for the foreseeable future.
