It was just 15 years ago that Kevin O’Connell entered the NFL as a third-round pick of the New England Patriots. The former college quarterback has since served in a variety of roles as an assistant around the league since his playing days came to a conclusion back in 2012.
Now, O’Connell will be running an entire football team. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, O’Connell will be named the Minnesota Vikings next head coach once his current Los Angeles Rams team plays in Super Bowl LVI come February 13.
Pelissero and others note that the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator is Minnesota’s choice to replace the recently-fired Mike Zimmer in that role.
This comes on the same day that Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh told the Wolverines that he was returning to college after conducting several interviews with the Vikings to become their next head coach. Previous reports suggested that Harbaugh was ready to take the job in Minnesota. That’s obviously not the case.
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Kevin O’Connell rises from obscurity to become Minnesota Vikings head coach
O’Connell, 36, began his NFL coaching career as the Cleveland Browns’ quarterbacks coach in 2015. He served in that role for just one season before being tasked to “special projects” with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. That’s a real thing.
The San Diego State product then acted as the quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator for the now-Washington Commanders from 2017-18 before taking over as their offensive coordinator in 2019. He’s been in the same position under Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay since the start of the 2020 season.
For McVay, this represents yet another assistant coach to land a head-coach job. Zac Taylor went from being the Rams quarterbacks coach back in 2018 to taking the Cincinnati Bengals’ head-coach job in 2019. In an interesting turn, the two will face one another in Super Bowl LVI. Former Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley then landed the Los Angeles Chargers job ahead of the 2021 season.
It’s now all about getting to work for Kevin O’Connell and new Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. There’s a lot to do following a disappointing 8-9 campaign for the Vikings. This can’t start until after February 13.