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The Minnesota Vikings are “zeroing in on” Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell to be their next head coach, per Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network on Wednesday.
According to Dan Graziano of ESPN, the Vikings have called other candidates to inform them they are “out of the running.”
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated also confirmed the reports, writing that Minnesota has “identified” O’Connell as its next coach and made calls to other candidates confirming that they have gone in a different direction.
O’Connell’s reported deal with the Vikings cannot become official until after the Super Bowl, which will occur Feb. 13 between the Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.
Per Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, the finalists were O’Connell, New York Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.
The Vikings fired former head coach
Mike Zimmer at the conclusion of a 2021 campaign, in which they posted an
8-9 record and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
Zimmer compiled a 72-56-1 record across
eight seasons in Minnesota. The team qualified for the postseason
three times during his tenure. The best result was an appearance in
the 2017 NFC Championship Game, where they suffered a 38-7 loss to
the Philadelphia Eagles.
Team co-owner Mark Wilf told reporters the
departure of Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman didn’t mean
they were planning a major restructure of the roster:
“I don’t want to get into a full
rebuild conversation. Our point is we have high expectations for this
football team. We believe we can be super competitive right here in
2022. This is not in that mode of a full rebuild. Again, we believe
we have a strong, strong foundation here on the field and around the
building. I wouldn’t classify it as that.
“Again, we looked at our football
team in its entirety. As difficult as a decision as it was, we feel
it’s the time and place to go in a different direction and get us to
the next level, which is where we all want to be.”
The Vikings have several strong
building blocks in place, led by Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook, Adam
Thielen, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith and Danielle Hunter, but
there are legitimate questions about whether Kirk Cousins is a
Super Bowl-caliber quarterback, and the defense needs a pretty
significant overhaul after ranking 30th in yards allowed per game in 2021.
It sounds like Minnesota will attempt
to push its championship window open following the coaching change
and some offseason moves, but a rebuild may still be on the horizon if that doesn’t come to fruition.
The Vikings do have some reason for
optimism despite the lackluster results over the past two years, and
now they’ll hope O’Connell can help them reach that
potential.
O’Connell, a former NFL backup quarterback, has
spent the past three years as an offensive coordinator, first with
the Washington Football Team in 2019 and then with the Rams for the past two seasons.
The Rams finished 11th and ninth in
total offense the last two years, respectively. It was enough for the
36-year-old San Diego State product to get his first crack at being a
head coach.
With the coaching situation now
settled, the pressure shifts to new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to bolster
the roster enough to give Minnesota a chance to make a serious climb
up the standings in 2022.
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