Carlsbad’s Kevin O’Connell has become NFL royalty.
But that doesn’t mean the NFL cuts him any slack when the ball is kicked off.
For all of his success, O’Connell lacks a playoff win as a head coach.
The absence of postseason success spiced up the Vikings’ recent draft. Will top draftee Donovan Jackson assist O’Connell’s 2025 club to a breakthrough?
There’s more riding on Jackson than most first-round draftees because the Vikings, who took him 24th, had just four other picks, none in the second round.
Forecast: Jackson will start at left guard in the season opener at Chicago against the much-improved Bears, and he’ll go on to have a good rookie year. He’ll benefit from a fine left tackle in Christian Barrimore (returning from season-ending injury) and an NFL-savvy center in Ryan Kelly, a free-agent addition.
By December, when he’ll turn 23, Jackson will be a B-/C+ NFL starter.
O’Connell’s fascinating career allows me to make a bigger point.
Sometimes, greatness isn’t good enough in the NFL.
O’Connell’s 26-9 record (.742) in one-score games (decided by eight points or fewer) sits among the NFL’s all-time leaders. His 34-17 record (.667 win rate) is Minnesota’s best through 51 games, topping even Hall of Famer Bud Grant.
O’Connell seems magical at guiding QBs. Sam Darnold had his best NFL season by far last season, leading the Vikings to a 14-3 record and earning Darnold $55 million guaranteed from the Seahawks.
Further buffing O’Connell’s QB bona fides, it was reported this week that Caleb Williams considered trying to pull an Eli Manning so he could play for O’Connell.
At the 2024 NFL combine, reported ESPN’s Seth Wickersham in the book “American Kings: a Biography of the Quarterback,” the projected No. 1 pick met with O’Connell.
They clicked, and Williams began to dream of what it would be like to play for Minnesota.
“I need to go to the Vikings,” he told his father.
“Let’s do it,” his father replied.
O’Connell didn’t have a shot at Williams because Bears GM Ryan Poles took him first overall.
Yet despite the season-ending injury to the QB the Vikings drafted 11th overall, J.J. McCarthy, O’Connell led his club to the playoffs.
Great stuff. But then the Vikings were blown out by the Rams, whose coach, Sean McVay, had O’Connell on staff for two years. The Rams sacked a jittery and confused Darnold nine times in winning the wild-card game 27-9. The Rams were a 2 1/2-point underdog.
In a wild-card game two years earlier, O’Connell’s first team, coming off an NFC North-winning season, lost to the Giants, 31-24 despite being a 3-point favorite.
The loss to the Rams didn’t change the fact that football media voted O’Connell as the NFL’s 2024 Coach of the Year.
The La Costa Canyon High School alum accepted the award during Super Bowl week in New Orleans. Awaiting him on the stage were two NFL stars: Bill Belichick, who drafted O’Connell out of San Diego State, where he was a four-year starter under Tom Craft and Chuck Long, and Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders.
Heady stuff.
But the NFL is a cruel place.
Even if O’Connell’s Vikings are above average once again, their margins for error will be as thin as a fishing line cast onto one of Minnesota’s lakes.
Remember, 14-3 wasn’t good enough to win the NFC North race last year. Though the Lions lost sharp coordinator Ben Johnson to the Bears, star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson has recovered from a season-ending injury.
The Packers appear improved with top draftee Matthew Golden, who might be the best receiver they’ve drafted since Davante Adams (he won’t be as good as Adams).
Here’s hoping that Jackson, whose array of run blocks made NFL money for the two Buckeyes running backs drafted in the second round, pans out for O’Connell.
Look for the coach to ease the acclimation of Minnesota’s second draftee, Maryland receiver Tai Felton. In stature, he resembles teammate Jordan Addision. A former first-round pick, Addison has blossomed in O’Connell’s offense into a good No. 2 receiver.
O’Connell will turn 40 this week. In football years, he’s older and wiser than 40. But in the NFL, that’s no guarantee of playoff success, or even reaching the postseason.