Kevin O'Connell, Vikings
Getty
Head coach Kevin O'Connell of the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota Vikings brass is facing as much turmoil and has as much explaining to do as perhaps any group of decision-makers in the NFL, but none of that is going to happen at the combine next week.
The league released the media schedule for the event, which includes representatives from most of the 32 teams on a list to speak to reporters at some point during the process — often the general manager and head coach of each franchise.
Noticeably absent from that roster, however, are both Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and interim general manager Rob Brzezinski.
Tyler Forness
Kevin O’Connell and Rob Brzezinski won’t be talking at the NFL Scouting Combine next week
“Kevin O’Connell and Rob Brzezinski won’t be talking at the NFL Scouting Combine next week,” Tyler Forness captioned a screen grab of the media schedule, which he posted to X on Friday, February 20.
The Vikings official website announced that “O’Connell and Brzezinski are planning to participate in separate on-the-record sessions with Twin Cities media members who travel to Indianapolis.”
Vikings Face Tough Questions Heading Into Free Agency, Draft After Firing Former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Minnesota Vikings
GettyFormer Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Vikings ownership decided in late January to fire general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, at least in part because he orchestrated a play at quarterback that allowed Sam Darnold to leave following a 14-3 campaign for the Seattle Seahawks in order to clear the path for JJ McCarthy to take over the starting job unimpeded.
McCarthy started just 10 of 17 games because of three different injuries one year after missing his entire rookie campaign due to knee surgery. Meanwhile, Darnold led the Seahawks to a 14-3 record, the NFC West Division title and the No. 1 seed before ultimately capturing the Super Bowl title.
O’Connell was a considerable voice in the process leading up to that strategy, and McCarthy’s status as the presumptive QB1 is again a major offseason storyline, as the team has already announced it will seek competition for the 23 year old via free agency, trade or the draft.
All of that begs the question of whether Minnesota is trying to keep the volume down and the heat off with regards to the QB position until the team makes a definitive decision on which direction it wants to go and which player(s) it wants to pursue most fervently.
Vikings Expected to Look at Secondary Again in First Round
Minnesota Vikings
GettySafety Dillon Thieneman of the Oregon Ducks.
Of course, there would also naturally be questions for Brzezinski about his role with the team, both now and in the future, as well as invitations to critique Adofo-Mensah’s decisions by simple questions regarding what he might have done/will do differently while he holds the title of GM — however long that happens to last.
Such queries, while inevitable, may also be on the list of questions the Vikings prefer its leadership not have to deal with as it evaluates players at the first combine without Adofo-Mensah in five years.
Minnesota owns the No. 18 pick in the first round and yet again may look to the secondary to find answers for the unit, which have largely evaded the Vikings across O’Connell’s first four years at the helm. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com predicted earlier this week that the franchise will select safety Dillon Thieneman out of Oregon.
“After studying Thieneman’s impressive 2025 tape at Oregon, I went back and watched the film from his career at Purdue, where he played in 2023 and ’24,” Jeremiah wrote. “His range and playmaking skills were evident back then, too. He would be an excellent replacement for Harrison Smith.”