Kevin O'Connell was a first-time head coach when the Minnesota Vikings hired him in 2022. But his resume, briefly as an NFL quarterback and as an assistant working under some notable head coaches, provided lessons on the importance of hiring the right assistant coaches.
O'Connell's first defensive coordinator hire, despite the Vikings making the playoffs in 2022, was a disaster. Ed Donatell's "sit back, bend, and usually break" philosophy led to him being one-and-done, and O'Connell did a complete 180 from that by hiring Brian Flores as his new defensive coordinator in 2023.
The first branch of O'Connell's budding head coaching tree, former offensive assistant Grant Udinski, is now the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive coordinator. Flores is technically part of Bill Belichick's coaching tree, but working under O'Connell has put him in a good position for a second chance at being a head coach. Some also see offensive coordinator Wes Phillips as a potential future head coach.
Minnesota Vikings coaching staff gets huge praise from ESPN analyst
ESPN's Ben Solak made his affinity for Flores clear during the offseason, calling the Vikings' defensive coordinator "the greatest non-quarterback competitive advantage in the NFL" and "unquestionably one of the 32 (if not 20) best coaches in football."
So with Solak putting together his ranking of NFL coaching staffs for 2025, it's not a huge surprise that he has the Vikings No. 1
"When I ranked the Vikings in this exercise last season, I sang the praises of Flores, the defensive coordinator who had done the most with the least in 2023. But I wondered if O'Connell, another branch off the Shanahan-McVay tree, could innovate and evolve beyond the tried-and-true system he had run with Kirk Cousins to that point. What could he offer a younger quarterback in need of development?
The answer: a whole lot! Not necessarily to the quarterback we expected, as Sam Darnold started the entire season in J.J. McCarthy's absence -- but what a season it was. O'Connell's mastery is in opening intermediate and downfield passing windows. Darnold had more passing attempts at least 10 yards downfield than any other quarterback, and NFL Next Gen Stats charted those targets with an average separation of 2.7 yards -- fifth highest in the league.
O'Connell has easily leaped into that utmost echelon of offensive designers, and Flores remains the cream of the defensive crop. There are always little things to wonder about -- scheming for a rookie is different from scheming for a veteran, even if that veteran had never been successful elsewhere -- but there is no doubt that O'Connell & Co. elevate players more than any other coaching staff in football."
The biggest mark for how well O'Connell and his staff elevate players has yet to come to full fruition. As long as quarterback J.J. McCarthy is what O'Connell thinks he is, any possible future blemishes on that part of this coaching staff's resume will land with a shrug.
Overall, some NFL head coaches never quite get it right when it comes to putting together their staff of assistants. O'Connell quickly pivoted from an early mistake, and Solak's acknowledgement proves how much he has otherwise nailed his staff hirings.