Kevin O’Connell‘s career as a player in the NFL never quite panned out how he’d hoped — but he sure has a bright future as a coach.
The leader of the Minnesota Vikings orchestrated a 31-28 comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons last week, guiding newcomer Josh Dobbs to the second win of his career and his first fourth-quarter, game-winning drive.
Dobbs earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the improbable performance of mounting the comeback just five days after the Arizona Cardinals traded him away.
However, what O’Connell did, synthesizing the play calls down for Dobbs, who hadn’t thrown a single pass in practice last week, in realtime was a masterclass in coaching.
His former general manager believes that moment will cement O’Connell as a legendary coach for years to come.
Former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, who acquired O’Connell as a backup quarterback in 2009 and also cut him twice from the Jets roster, said he recommended O’Connell as a head coach candidate to several teams before the Vikings hired him.
To the Vikings’ fortune, they landed O’Connell, who has inspired a team that started the year 0-3 to win five of their next six games despite missing stars Justin Jefferson and Kirk Cousins.
“Minnesota has a superstar for the next 20 years,” Tannenbaum said, per ESPN. “They’re lucky to have him. He’s only going to get better and better. I think he has a chance to be really special. People will say he’s a McVay guy with a really good scheme. Kevin has a million more attributes to add to a program than scheme. He has relatability. He is a good listener. He has a really good demeanor.
O’Connell is 18-9 as a head coach entering Week 10 of the 2023 season as his Vikings (5-4 this season) currently hold the seventh seed in the NFC despite their slow start.
The former NFL coach was featured on Hard Knocks back in 2010 when he was cut from the Jets for a second time, which proved to be just the start of this NFL journey
