You have to get through 31 other coaches just to find Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell sitting dead last in the latest Pro Football Network head coach rankings.
This is obviously O’Connell’s first year on the job, and all of the other first-year head coaches are thrown at the bottom of the list as well. But none of them are ranked as low as the Vikings coach.
Not Mike McDaniel. Not Brian Daboll. Not Nathaniel Hackett. Not Matt Eberflus.
Every head coach, including the newcomers, got a higher ranking than the coach that just won a Super Bowl as the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.
Pro Football Network’s Mike Kaye wrote:
“Kevin O’Connell, despite being a former NFL QB and coordinator, is the mystery man among the head-coaching ranks. While the Vikings kept their roster mostly in place, O’Connell will clearly bring his own ideas to the table. O’Connell is a true wild card, for better or worse.”
Not only does O’Connell come from the same coaching tree as the man ranked No. 4 on the list, Rams coach Sean McVay, but he has also inherited one of the more talented rosters in the league.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if he waltzed right into Minnesota and led the Vikings to their first playoff appearance in over two years. What better way to quell doubters, while simultaneously putting the NFL on notice?
