Before his interview, it seemed like a done deal, but in the end, the Minnesota Vikings decided to not hire Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach.
When he walked in the door to meet with the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday morning, Jim Harbaugh was expecting his interview to end with him receiving a contract to become the team’s new head coach. But that’s not what ended up happening.
Instead, the Vikings did not even offer Harbaugh a contract, and the team, instead, is planning to hire Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell as their next head coach according to multiple reports.
So why didn’t Minnesota go with Harbaugh, a guy who won almost 70 percent of his games during his first stint as an NFL head coach with the San Francisco 49ers?
There are multiple reasons why the Vikings ultimately decided to make O’Connell the 10th head coach in franchise history, but there are a few reasons that stand out the most.
Unpredictability with upper management
After Jim Harbaugh led Michigan to a 12-2 record and a spot in the College Football Playoff during the 2021 season, the school had to be ecstatic with the direction their head coach had the football program heading in.
However, uncertainty began to surround Harbaugh returning to Michigan for the 2022 season after rumors about his desire to return to the NFL began to pop up.
The veteran head coach was not happy that his annual salary from the school was cut in half in 2021 and his rumored interest in getting back to the pros didn’t do anything to quiet this belief.
Unhappiness with the decisions made by his superiors is not something new when it comes to Harbaugh though. Before he even became the head coach at Michigan, he had a falling out with the owner and general manager of the 49ers, and it eventually led to him parting ways with the franchise despite leading them to the NFC Championship in three of his four seasons.
This was clearly a concern for the Vikings leading up to their interview with Harbaugh, as it should have been. Minnesota likely has a plan for the future of the franchise during the next few years, and if everyone isn’t on board, including the head coach, then their goals are going to have a much harder time of being met.
Not a viable long-term option
During Mike Zimmer’s tenure as the Vikings head coach, it was made pretty clear that the team’s ownership currently prefers continuity when it comes to Minnesota’s coaches and members of the front office.
Despite there being a couple of opportunities for an earlier exit, the Vikings gave Zimmer eight seasons to see if he could lead the team to a championship.
When it comes to Jim Harbaugh, no one would have been surprised if his time in Minnesota wound up only lasting a year or two. It’s even possible that the Vikings’ decision-makers feared that Harbaugh’s tenure could’ve turned into a quick disaster similar to how things went down this past NFL season with Urban Meyer and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Prior to getting hired at Michigan in 2015, none of Harbaugh’s three previous head-coaching gigs (49ers, Stanford University, University of San Diego) lasted for more than four years.
He’s also 58-years-old, so it’s hard to determine how much longer he even wants to continue his profession as a head coach.
Minnesota is not really in the position to hire a head coach that’s just going to be around for a few years before leaving to retire or take another opportunity. The Vikings are likely heading towards a ton of big changes and they need a head coach that they can count on to remain with the team for the entire process.
O’Connell was more impressive
While Jim Harbaugh was a favorite to become the next head coach of the Vikings, there’s a reason why Kevin O’Connell was a finalist for the position as well.
O’Connell was a candidate Minnesota really liked going into their hiring process and his interviews only added to their desire to make him their next head coach.
During his in-person interview with the Vikings on Monday, the Rams offensive coordinator reportedly blew Minnesota away with everything that took place during the meeting according to The Athletic’s Chad Graff.
O’Connell comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree which has produced some pretty impressive head coaches during the last few years. Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers, Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals, and Brandon Staley of the Los Angeles Chargers all worked under McVay before getting their own head-coaching jobs.
When it comes to the 36-year-old O’Connell, the Vikings are hoping that he will carry on the success that the others from the McVay coaching tree have been able to achieve.