Over the last five years, there have been 37 head-coaching hires across the NFL. And that number doesn't even include mid-season interim promotions upon a firing, nor does it include the eight who've already been hired during this current cycle, which will jump up to 10 once the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders fill their respective vacancies.
One of these hires, of course, was Kevin O'Connell, who took the big job with the Minnesota Vikings ahead of the 2022 season after holding various assistant roles over the previous seven years with the Cleveland Browns (quarterbacks coach), San Francisco 49ers (special projects), Washington Commanders (quarterbacks coach, passing game coordinator, offensive coordinator), and Los Angeles Rams (offensive coordinator).
Taking over for Mike Zimmer, who went 8-9 in his final season, O'Connell got off to a hot start, leading the Vikes to a 13-4 record and the NFC North crown in 2022, only to see the season go to waste in a wild-card loss to the New York Giants. Minnesota struggled the following year—Kirk Cousins' season-ending Achilles injury obviously didn't help—ultimately finishing 7-10.
The Vikes bounced back something fierce in 2024 with Sam Darnold filling in under center after a season-ending injury to rookie J.J. McCarthy, going 14-3 to earn O'Connell NFL Coach of the Year honors, only to suffer another disappointing defeat in the postseason, losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round.
And then, of course, there was this past season, which saw Minnesota need a five-game winning streak to close out the year to finish just above .500 at 9-8. So, it's been quite the up-and-down ride.
Minnesota Vikings' Kevin O'Connell ranked No. 7 among the NFL head coaches hired since 2021
ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently took the time to rank all 37 head-coaching hires since 2021, and O'Connell ranked a respectable seventh, trailing only these six:
- Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions
- Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
- Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks
- Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots
- DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans
- Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
That's a tough list to argue against. Campbell getting No. 1 is a bit surprising, seeing as how Sirianni has won a Super Bowl. But when you can turn the Detroit Lions into a contender, that's undoubtedly worthy of high praise.
As for O'Connell, here's what Barnwell had to say about the 40-year-old:
"There's no doubting that O'Connell is a good coach, having put together 13- and 14-win seasons over his first four years in Minnesota, but we can poke a few holes in that record. One is the Vikings' performance in close games.
They are 25-12 in one-score games over that span, and while O'Connell does a solid job of managing late-game scenarios, the wild fluctuations in their record in those games from year to year suggest their record in close games is more a product of randomness than a sustainable skill.
O'Connell deserves credit for what he has done in building offenses around everyone from Kirk Cousins to Joshua Dobbs to Sam Darnold over that time frame, but after a frustrating 2025 campaign from 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, some perspective might matter here, and it's similar to what I mentioned with Payton.
The Vikings are 18th in EPA per play on offense over O'Connell's four years in charge, behind the likes of the Jaguars and Falcons, who haven't been offensive juggernauts for most of that time.
The driving force for the Vikings over the past three years has instead been their defense. If this were a list of best coordinator hires over the past five seasons, Minnesota's Brian Flores might be at the very top."
It's tough to argue with that assessment as well, especially that last part about Flores, whose defense is undoubtedly responsible for many of the victories for which O'Connell gets credit. And Vikings fans are obviously counting on continued defensive success with Flores expected toreturn for at least the 2026 season after failing to land his own head-coaching gig.
For what it's worth, O'Connell ranked one spot higher than the Chicago Bears' Ben Johnson, although it's obviously worth noting that Johnson found his way into the top 10 after just one season after leading the Monsters of the Midway to the NFC North crown and a playoff win over the Green Bay Packers.
So, if O'Connell wants to continue to stay ahead of Johnson if a similar list is released a year from now, he'll undoubtedly need to get the Vikings back into the playoffs and get his first postseason victory.