In case you haven’t noticed, Kevin O’Connell is among the best head coaches across the entire NFL. He’s an incredible leader, and he just got more out of Sam Darnold than anyone else has ever seen. That doesn’t mean he is without deficiencies.
Does Kevin O’Connell Have Too Much on His Plate?
The Minnesota Vikings employ Wes Phillips as their offensive coordinator. It’s certainly worth wondering what he does. The most notable news during his time with the organization was his DUI arrest, and as unfortunate as that may be, O’Connell assumes the vast majority of his job functions.
During the coaching carousel this offseason, the Vikings had plenty of candidates interviewed. Brian Flores is probably the most prominent, but Grant Udinski is the only one to get poached. He went from an assistant position to the offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Keenan McCardell wants an offensive coordinator job. Current quarterbacks coach Josh McCown was interviewed for those roles as well. Do you know who wasn’t interviewed for anything? Wes Phillips.
The reality is that Phillips holds a position where he does next to nothing for the Vikings. Kevin O’Connell calls plays. As the head coach, he is still the shotcaller on offense. There is rarely a decision made with the quarterback on the field that O’Connell isn’t speaking about.
We have seen that play out to his detriment at times over the past three years. Whether it comes down to clock management or odd decisions while needing to be aggressive, it’s a fair argument that he may have too much on his plate.
If the Vikings want to avoid having some of their young talent poached, one way to do that may be to promote them from within. O’Connell has continued to unearth good coaches, and talented parties will always want to work with him. The longer he can keep them around, the better.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes daily for Minnesota Sports Fan. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.