Photo by Nate Ryan
At first glance, Kevin O’Connell’s office at TCO Performance Center looks like every other coach’s safe haven—shelves lined with past seasons’ stats, playbooks strewn on his desk, a charging station for walkie-talkies, and schedules tacked to the wall. But upon closer look, there’s more. There are mismatched frames of generational family photos, kids’ paintings and popsicle-stick art, and even personalized “Conquered the North” purple and gold Nikes.
“Kevin will be a bit delayed,” the Vikings’ communications team informs us.
Earlier that morning, O’Connell stepped away from the Vikings’ practice field to pay mind to something far greater than football. He attended the memorial service for Jamal Mitchell, a Minneapolis police officer who had been killed in the line of duty in late May.
Mitchell was a member of the game-day staff for the Minneapolis Police Department, responsible for providing security during Vikings home games at U.S. Bank Stadium. He was frequently stationed just outside the Delta Sky360° Club entrance, where coaching staff and the players would enter the field from the locker room—and where O’Connell and Mitchell would greet each other with knucks before every home game.
O’Connell became head coach for the Minnesota Vikings only two seasons ago, in 2022. He led the Vikings to 13 wins in his first year, the most by any first-year head coach in franchise history. Last year, the Vikes came close to clinching the NFC North, despite a devasting injury to quarterback Kirk Cousins in Week 8.
O’Connell says he fell in love with the game of football pretty early on in life. He was a four-time captain at San Diego State and eventually was drafted in the third round by the New England Patriots in 2008. Being around Bill Belichick as the head coach and Tom Brady as a quarterback, O’Connell saw the pinnacle of football on a daily basis. So, how did O’Connell land in Minnesota? We caught up with him this summer, just in time for kickoff of the Vikings’ 64th season.
Photo by Nate Ryan
How does it feel to be the fastest coach to hit 20 wins in Vikings franchise history?
I feel incredibly proud of that. I have a ton of respect for what Coach Dennis Green was able to do, not only here but just his leadership style and how he ran the organization. Big Denny Green fan. Obviously, it’s all about the players that I get to coach and our coaching staff. But it’s more than that. It’s the people in our building, the people we work with. Having success early made us that much more hungry to keep on trying to strive for more and more. We dealt with some adversity last year, but I learned that as great of an accomplishment as that was for our organization, it really means nothing now. Now, we’re moving forward with the mindset that the only thing that matters is the next opportunity. We can be really proud and excited about the things we’ve accomplished, like winning a division title our first year, but it’s nothing more than just a banner hanging.
Do you have any pregame rituals that you could share with us?
I spent my whole career basically as the quarterback coach or the offensive coordinator, and you go out to the field early and put the team through some early workouts and things like that. As the head coach, you don’t get to do that. In fact, if you walk out there early, normally people think something’s wrong. But I still like to get out and play catch, you know, as a former quarterback, I like to play catch with some of the guys.
Photo by Nate Ryan
Some of your locker room speeches have gone viral on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
People ask me sometimes if I think about what I’m going to say beforehand. There are so many things you worry about leading up to a game or during the game. A lot of times, that’s raw, pure emotion. I tend to rely on my gut instincts to go with, you know, whatever I’m feeling in the moment and trust that’s gonna be the right message regardless of what the outcome was. It’s kind of a reflection of the preparation, the work that they put in, and the messaging that goes on throughout the week. That’s a perfect platform to hopefully foster hope and energy and enthusiasm for the next opportunity.
How do you decide who to give the game ball to?
There’s nothing I love more than throwing out game balls after a big win. I normally have a pretty good idea based upon how the game went, you know, whether it’s Justin [Jefferson] with a couple touchdowns and 100-plus yards, or it’s Harrison Smith sealing the game with an interception or strip sack fumble. Or when Kirk went back to Washington, for example, making sure that we gave the last one to him and just feeling the emotion and the energy of the team for him in that moment. I like to make sure we get the maximum amount of excitement out of the guys.
Speaking of Kirk, do you think you’ll miss his veteran leadership?
Yeah, you know, Kirk and I remain incredibly close to this very day and we’ve experienced so much together. So, his impact on this organization was felt kind of far and wide, and he was somebody that I really leaned on. I really do wish nothing but the best for him and Julie and his family and hope that the Atlanta experience goes well for him. But I’m excited in a lot of ways for the transition at the quarterback position … and for the leadership from some of our younger players like Justin Jefferson and Christian Darrisaw, in conjunction with players like Harrison Smith, C.J. Ham, guys that have been staples of our organization for a long time. We have this younger generation now coming up that has experienced a lot in this league, so I think it’s going to be a unique time, an exciting time for our organization—not without its challenges, but I am excited every day coming to work.
Photo by Nate Ryan
How did you develop your leadership style?
I try to lead in a way where the guys know that I’m gonna be side by side with them when things get difficult, when things get hard. And then I think the two things that come with being a servant leader, the things that you have to hang your hat on, are really authenticity and humility. It’s a ‘we, not me’ mantra. Anybody who puts a Norseman logo on their shirt and comes to this building every day to work, they should feel part of it. It’s not mine, it’s not just the players, it’s not just any one particular person in this building—it’s all of us. So, hopefully that matters to people.
As Viking fans, we’ve been let down a time or two.
The hardest thing to do in professional sports is win a Super Bowl. And there’s been a lot of great Vikings teams over the years that have come close, and we’re just gonna keep banging on that door until we knock it down.
The million-dollar question—will we see J.J. [McCarthy] to J.J. [Justin Jefferson] this season?*
You know what, the fans can be very excited about the J.J. to J.J. connection. I can’t tell you when that will begin. I just know we’re really excited to have J.J. McCarthy here and and also knowing we’ll have Justin Jefferson under contract for many, many years to come.
*Editor’s Note: This interview took place in June 2024.
