There’s a Vikings Frontrunner to Win Illustrious Award
Hopefully you placed your bet one week ago.
There’s a Vikings Frontrunner to Win Illustrious Award
That’s the honor of the NFL’s Coach of the Year, and Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell is the current frontrunner to take home the bacon.
The Vikings have started the season 3-0 — quite unexpectedly — defeating the New York Giants on the road by 22 points to start the 2024 campaign, upsetting the Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco 49ers in Week 2 by six points, and utterly flogging the Super Bowl-contending Houston Texans 34-7 last weekend.
Things are looking up for the purple team, and Vegas oddsmakers have noticed O’Connell accordingly.
Entering Week 4, O’Connell has the league’s top odds to win COTY at a +350 moneyline. He tops Mike Macdonald (+500, Seattle Seahawks), Jim Harbaugh (+900, Los Angeles Chargers), and Mike Tomlin (+1000, Pittsburgh Steelers) through three games. For new bettors, the +350 moneyline means a wagerer would win $350 if she placed $100 on O’Connell to take home the COTY trophy.
O’Connell held +1000 odds one week ago.
Why O’Connell for Coach of the Year? Easy — the young skipper has engineered a splendid start to the season without his rookie quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, and Minnesota is missing players like T.J. Hockenson, Mekhi Blackmon, and Dalton Risner, among others. One of O’Connell’s rookies, cornerback Khyree Jackson, also tragically passed away in July. O’Connell has seized the moment every step of the way and led.
His team is 3-0 and in no way, shape, or form does it feel accidental. In fact, the Vikings own a +55 point differential over three opponents, the third largest in the sport behind the Buffalo Bills and New Orleans Saints. Put simply, the Vikings are cooking to start the season, quite the contrast from last year’s 0-3 start.
Meanwhile, Minnesota could be close to extending O’Connell’s contract for the long term. KSTP’s Darren Wolfson mentioned last week that an O’Connell extension could arrive sooner rather than later. “I’m telling you, it’s coming,” Wolfson said on SKOR North airwaves.
Wolfson added, “It’s just a little weird to me, based on what took place in Miami with Mike McDaniel, that it hasn’t happened yet.”
Minnesota parted ways with former general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer in January 2022, hiring general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell shortly after. On the duo’s watch, the Vikings have the NFL’s seventh-best win-loss record at 23-14 (.611).
Coach of the Year became an official award in 2001, and no Vikings skipper has won it.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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