MINNEAPOLIS — Six weeks after the Vikings fired general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer, the team's new leaders sat on a dais in Eagan as a logo on the streaming video of the news conference declared "Vikings new era."
The Vikings' 40-year-old first-time GM, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, introduced 36-year-old first-time head coach Kevin O'Connell on Thursday, four days after O'Connell won the Super Bowl as the Rams' offensive coordinator.
O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah now begin working together as the Vikings make an organizational pivot. After they fired Spielman and Zimmer on Jan. 10, co-owner Mark Wilf said the team was looking for "strong leaders, strong communicators and strong collaborators" in its coaching and GM searches.
Those words were used frequently in the nearly 40 minutes O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah spent with reporters at TCO Performance Center.
"Kevin is a strong leader with great vision, great communication skills and an innovative football mind," Adofo-Mensah said. "As a former player himself, he is able to connect with players and has a great reputation for developing them. He is incredibly bright with a calm demeanor through adversity. He is well regarded across the league for his genuine personality almost as much as his football acumen. He is committed to building a championship culture through positivity and purpose. One of Kevin's best attributes is his ability to communicate complexity in a simple and relatable way."
Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell, the 10th head coach in team history, were quick to note the bond between them that had formed during O'Connell's second interview in Los Angeles on Jan. 31.
"We have known from Day 1 that we're going to be able to collaborate, communicate with one another, and build a culture here that the players will feel," O'Connell said. "They will feel a connectedness between obviously your staff and our coaching staff, and that will only lead to the players feeling as connected as they have ever been to a coaching staff before. It is one of my main goals and I cannot wait to get going with our football team."
O'Connell said that he would be calling the offensive plays, which he did not do with the Rams, and that the defense, under new coordinator Ed Donatell, will run a three-man front but shift into different fronts.
Among the first questions O'Connell, a former quarterback, was asked about was the status of quarterback Kirk Cousins.
"I know he is under contract and I am excited to coach him," O'Connell said, adding, "I am anticipating Kirk being a part of what we do."
O'Connell, who was known to be the Vikings' choice for head coach on Feb. 2, called the two weeks he was juggling head coaching interviews and preparing for the Super Bowl the most difficult of his life. But it ended with a championship and his first head coaching job.
"I know what it takes," O'Connell said of winning the Super Bowl. "I've seen it, I've experienced it."
He credited Rams coach Sean McVay for teaching him about the type of team and culture that he wants to build in Minnesota.
"I hope to bring a lot of those characteristics to our football team here that he has instilled that just helped us win a world championship," O'Connell said.
Earlier Thursday the Vikings announced the hiring of nine assistant coaches, including Donatell and assistant head coach Mike Pettine, the head coach in Cleveland when O'Connell got his first NFL job and the Packers' defensive coordinator from 2018-20.
The team also added Chris Rumph as its defensive line coach; Brian Angelichio and Curtis Modkins from the Rams as pass game and run game coordinators; another Rams assistant Chris O'Hara as quarterbacks coach; and former Broncos guard Chris Kuper as the next offensive line coach.
