When the Minnesota Vikings interviewed Kevin O’Connell for their head coaching vacancy, he probably blew them away with his presentation.
Nobody knows what happened inside that room. O’Connell could have talked about “The Illusion of Complexity.” He could have given a blunt assessment of the roster. He could have presented his plan to fix Kirk Cousins. Or he could have mentioned one crazy trip to Vegas with Sean McVay.
Whatever it was, Vikings ownership was impressed.
On paper, the Vikings have the roster to become a Super Bowl team. Their offense is loaded at the skill positions. Their defense has several names that led them to the 2017 NFC Championship game. And the special teams are fine (for now). All they needed was the right leadership at the top.
The Vikings fired Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is taking over as the next general manager, and he made O’Connell his coach. Maybe the culture they create saves the day.
But then the Vikings brought everyone back. Cousins. Danielle Hunter. Adam Thielen. Harrison Smith. Patrick Peterson. Ev. Ree. One. Nuh.
The Vikings brought in Za’Darius Smith and some other new faces. But this feels like the same team that has missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
This week was the first glimpse of what O’Connell is dealing with. With media gathered at TCO Performance Center, players were brought out to give their thoughts on the offseason.
Patrick Peterson took his turn at the podium and praised the Vikings for hiring O’Connell and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. He commended them on their commitment to having fun in the building. He loved their desire for player input and even mentioned their need for accountability. But when he was asked about his play, there was a different tone.
“It’s just hard to get into a groove when you get two targets a game,” Peterson said. “When I was getting [80-90] targets a game, it was much easier to get into a groove. But when you get a target in the first quarter [and don’t] get another until the third, it’s kind of difficult.”
Asked if that was a compliment, Peterson pointed the finger elsewhere.
“It is,” he said, “but Pro Football Focus doesn’t think so.”
Next up was Dalvin Cook. He explained that his father and big brother were the reason for switching his number from 33 to 4. With a new number on his chest, he promised that we would see a newer, faster version of himself. But while the focus has been on the No. 4, it should be on 27 – the age he’ll be in Week 1 of the 2022 season.
In the past 10 years, only 34 running backs have rushed for 1,000 yards at age 27 or over. Even more damning? Only six of those running backs have done it over the past five years.
For a running back that has played in 56 of a potential 81 games during his career, there’s nothing to suggest that Cook can reach another level.
Then there is Cousins. Nobody expected Cousins to step to the podium and tear Mike Zimmer apart. But he had a chance to give O’Connell a ringing endorsement.
The response was exactly what you would expect.
“You just understand when you play in this league for 10 years, it’s just kind of become the standard that every year there’s change,” Cousins said. “We’ve had a lot of different coordinators we’ve had in the years I’ve been here.”
It’s hard to believe that Cousins has no opinion on replacing a guy he had a weird interaction with on the sidelines during a celebration. It’s even harder to believe that he wasn’t excited when the guy replacing him has a framed, autographed Cousins jersey from after the 2017 season.
But Cousins had nothing to do with this.
“It was a minimal amount,” Cousins said when asked about his input on the coaching search. “I think I wanted to share and communicate. But by no means did I feel like it was my job to get involved.”
These comments seem odd. But not so much when you think of the scene before these press conferences.
With the entire team sitting in a meeting room, O’Connell had to have felt like a substitute teacher. Most of the players had listened to the same voice for eight years, and it’s hard to imagine what O’Connell could say to make a difference.
But this isn’t about what O’Connell says. Nor is it if he has a magic wand. It’s about what O’Connell has planned.
Zimmer took the same approach for years, hoping to hit big. O’Connell takes a more analytical approach but hopes that some little changes will create big results.
Justin Jefferson mentioned little things such as music before meetings to lighten the mood. Peterson said they put a basketball hoop in the position rooms. Smith mentioned a culture change.
All of these things could add up. They’ll have to for O’Connell to create real change.
