Kevin O’Connell and the Minnesota Vikings agreed to a contract extension on Tuesday, ensuring O’Connell would be the team’s head coach beyond 2025. The move was no surprise after O’Connell went 14-3 in 2024 with Sam Darnold at quarterback. His overall record is 34-17, but the Vikings are 0-2 in playoff appearances.
The extension ties O’Connell to 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy beyond 2025, which will be McCarthy’s first year as Minnesota’s starting quarterback. In September, O’Connell told Rich Eisen, “I believe that organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations.”
With the security of a long-term contract, O’Connell can coach McCarthy without pressure to accelerate McCarthy’s development. For McCarthy, not having the uncertainty of O’Connell’s future hanging over his head will give the quarterback peace that an abrupt coaching change won’t interrupt his development.
That sets the Vikings up for a chance at sustained success. In the summer of 2022, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told USA Today that building a team requires long-term thinking. Football is unique to other sports in that the playoffs are single-elimination.
“If it were a seven-game series, yeah, best team wins,” Adofo-Mensah said. “That’s ultimately why when you’re team building, you never want to go full Rams. Because you need to give yourself three chances at it, four years at it. I know that’s hard for fans to hear.”
The Vikings believe they have found the right head coach for their team. If McCarthy can live up to the expectations of being drafted 10th overall in last year’s draft, Minnesota could have a competitive team in 2025 and the years to come.
This weekend’s championship games highlight the importance of pairing a talented quarterback with a brilliant head coach. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes lost their first AFC Championship with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2018-19 playoffs. However, they won the Super Bowl the following season and have reached four over the past five seasons, winning three times. The lone season they missed the Super Bowl was when they lost the AFC Championship in 2021.
The Buffalo Bills stand in Kansas City’s way. Buffalo has been the second-most consistent team in the AFC during K.C.’s dynasty, led by Josh Allen and head coach Sean McDermott. This is their first AFC appearance since the 2020-21 season, when they lost 38-24 to the Chiefs. Although the Bills have had deficiencies that have held them back in the seasons since 2020, they are arguably a more complete team than Kansas City this year. Many faces have come and gone since then, but Allen and McDermott are always in the mix.
Two years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Last year, they had the proverbial “Super Bowl hangover,” going 11-6 and losing 32-9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round.
However, Jalen Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni, perhaps the most bizarre pair mentioned here, benefitted when the Eagles added Saquon Barkley in the offseason. Hurts isn’t the dynamic passer that Allen and Mahomes are, but he has postseason success and maturity to allow the offense to flourish, even if he isn’t the focal point. This season, the Eagles are hosting their second NFC Championship in three years and are vying for their first Super Bowl win since 2017.
The Washington Commanders are the only new team to Championship Sunday. However, they also highlight the importance of the head coach-quarterback relationship. They hired Dan Quinn, the Atlanta Falcons head coach when they went to the Super Bowl in 2016 before blowing a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots.
Quinn took the Commanders job after getting a fresh start as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023. Washington took Jayden Daniels with the second pick in the 2024 draft. The rookie accounted for 31 touchdowns during the regular season and has thrown four more in the playoffs. The 25-year-old’s poise was instrumental in upsetting the Buccaneers and Detroit Lions on the road.
Washington highlights what can happen in the short-term if McCarthy develops into the quarterback O’Connell envisions. Kansas City, Buffalo, and Philadelphia prove that hitting on a quarterback-and-head-coach combo can succeed, carry the team through setbacks, and help them compete for championships.
The Vikings haven’t had many instances of marrying their head coaches and quarterbacks on the same timeline. Bud Grant reached the Super Bowl with Joe Kapp at quarterback in 1969, but Kapp left the team after the season. After two seasons being held back by Gary Cuozzo, the Vikings traded for Fran Tarkenton. He led the Vikings to three Super Bowls from 1973 to 1976, but Tarkenton was 32 when he returned to Minnesota in 1972.
Minnesota drafted Tommy Kramer to replace Tarkenton. However, the Vikings’ roster was older, and they needed to overhaul it. Ultimately, they never had the overall talent level they had in the early ‘70s.
Dennis Green drafted Daunte Culpepper in 1999, but Green resigned at the end of the 2001 season, leaving Culpepper with Mike Tice. And although Mike Zimmer was fond of Teddy Bridgewater, the head coach was focused on the defense. Unfortunately, Bridgewater suffered a catastrophic knee injury that derailed his career weeks before the 2016 season.
That lack of timing or chemistry between coach and QB has led the Vikings to have several fleeting seasons of success with short-term solutions under center. Randall Cunningham couldn’t duplicate his magical 1998 season, and the Vikings benched him midway through the 1999 season. Brett Favre’s body and mind were battered after the 2009 NFC Championship, and he never got along with Brad Childress. And Case Keenum, despite leading the Vikings to a 13-3 record and one of the most spectacular playoff wins of all-time, never earned Zimmer’s trust.
Pairing O’Connell and McCarthy could change this trend. Would the 1998 or 2009 NFC Championship losses have the same sting if they had a quarterback like J.J. McCarthy in his first year under center with young head coach Kevin O’Connell? And would it have taken nearly a decade for another Vikings team to be a serious contender for a Super Bowl?
I’m not suggesting that championship success is guaranteed now that O’Connell has been extended. It doesn’t mean they’ll win a Super Bowl if McCarthy materializes into a franchise quarterback. However, with their immediate futures secured, the Vikings can set the foundation for a championship run that isn’t rooted solely in 2025.
