2021 MN Vikings Thread

Dan wrote:

O’Connell pretty much confirmed now.

Where the team goes from here is anyone’s guess. With the momentum and direction of a new coach they could improve immediately, or their personnel moves (or lack thereof) could see them having a down/rebuild year.

Between ownership, new GM, and new coach, they’ll have to decide what direction they want to go. They have some pretty good players in their prime and their offense provided something to go off last year. Like it or not in my opinion, if they still want to try and win now (or soon), they’re not going to get a better QB on the field than Cousins (contract is a different story).

If they keep Cousins they’ll likely lose several names they can’t afford, and who knows if replacement value will make them any better.

If they deal cousins (Tampa has a decent team that needs a QB now!) they might as well stick with a rebuild year and dump a lot of contracts.

With their lack of cap space and talented-but-expensive players in some spots, something’s gotta give.

I agree with your take. My best guess is we will let cousins play his contract out and take a wait and see approach. I just don’t see the wilfs doing a full reset which a trade of cousins would certainly signify. I will be curious to see what O’Connell thinks of mond. I was excited to bring mond in and was hoping he would be ready to take over the team as early as this year but Zimmer never gave him the time of day. I think our roster has the talent to compete for a superbowl if we can sure up our secondary and this new regime isn’t a disaster. This would be even more true if rodgers and adams leave town. I’m not suggesting we are the most talented team in the NFL or even in the top 5 but we’ve seen before that all it takes is an invite to the big dance and anything can happen.

well that was fun while it lasted. another year of mediocrity/rebuilding. should have took him to Manny’s. hey at least my wolves will have a shot at the post season!

Another Packers coach leaving – TE coach headed to Denver. Is there writing on the wall that Rodgers is leaving too?

Vikings former OC (Klint Kubiac) to Broncos also.

Spielman interviewing with Jags.

A McVay pedigree carries some clout. O’Connell fits that bill.

McVay has 2 superbowls with 1 loss and 1 to be decided in his first five years as the head coach.

Matt Lafleur worked with McVay a couple times. 2 NFC championship games in 3 years as the head coach.

Zac Taylor (Bengals HC) worked for McVay. What Taylor did with the Bengals is impressive even if it ends up not lasting long (tbd) …

Both LeFleur & Taylor have top line quarterbacks. Let me know how LeFleur does after Erin leaves and how Taylor does if Borrows gets hurt. Then I will believe in coaching trees.

There are few superstar coaches around, many who can win with exceptional talent.

I think O’Connell is a better fit than Harbaugh. The days of the grumpy, authoritarian coaches is over. Pleyers are grown men, with a lot of money, huge ego’s, with entitlement attitudes. Coaches now need to be positive cheerleaders and ego strokers.

Also, the days of being conservative, defensive minded is over. The NFL wants scoring and has changed the rule to overly favor offense.

I heard someone say, coaches have to be aggressive with the thinking of making the next great play, rather than conservative hoping not to make a mistake.

Dutchboy wrote:

Both LeFleur & Taylor have top line quarterbacks. Let me know how LeFleur does after Erin leaves

We’ve already seen how LeFleur is without Rodgers. They played at the Chiefs in November and smelled worse than stink on a monkey with Jordan Love at the helm.

This was in a piece in the Athletic,

O’Connell has served as Los Angeles’ offensive coordinator for the past two seasons. He spent the previous three seasons with Washington where he steadily moved up the chain from quarterbacks coach (2017) to QB coach/passing game coordinator (2018) and offensive coordinator (2019). He spent time coaching current Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins as his position coach in 2017.

Any coach is going to look bad with a bad QB. What separates them is not having a bad QB on the roster. If you have good leadership and scouts, they acquire a quality back-up that the coach can work with to plug in and still win if need be.

The Star Tribune is reporting that LA Rams Offensive Coordinator Kevin O’Connell has been named the new head coach for the Vikings. He cannot officially be hired until after the super bowl.

I’m guessing that his time in Washington working with Cousins played a role in this. Cousins won’t be going anywhere now.

I personally would have rather had Harbaugh. He has proven himself as an NFL head coach in the past. For whatever reason it didn’t work out though.

Harbaugh’s definitely a good coach but his stint with the Rams not working out probably played a part in the Vikes not offering him the HC job.
I’m glad that it looks like O’Connell will be the new HC.

Plus I would bet Harbaugh was asking for a LOT more $$$$ than O’Connell, had to play some factor in the decision.

Left at the altar by khakis himself…ouch.

Harbaugh did a lot in SF in a short time. He will eventually end up back in the NFL, but on his circumstances. The fit with a new, young, analytics-driven GM isn’t probably appealing to veteran HCs at the NFL level (understandably so). A guy like Harbaugh wants to make decisions, not be told what to do by an algorithm.

O’Connell has not proven a ton, but there’s a reason the Belichick’s of the world aren’t out roaming the streets looking for jobs. He’s going to be put into a situation where if the front office can balance the books, they should easily put up 10-12 wins with the NFC North being a dumpster. All signs point towards Cousins staying, sending Barr packing, Hunter potentially gone, and Thielen as a question mark.

I was never intrigued by Harbaugh. Yeah, he had success in SF, but there was also baggage. Plus it seemed to me as he was similar in style to Zimmer and while for a time I loved Zim, it was clear at the end that his time was up. Did anyone really want to go down a similar path again? Harbaughs offenses in SF were bottom third every year. Their Defense was what got them to the SB. O’Connell will bring upside. He is an offensive mind and was Cousins position coach in Washington. He was my pick once the list was narrowed down. Hope it works out.

I sure hope O’Connell has some radical ideas for the defense. The Vikings defense has been bottom 5 in the league for 3 of the last 4 seasons. He better find one hell of a defensive coordinator.

gimruis wrote:

I sure hope O’Connell has some radical ideas for the defense. The Vikings defense has been bottom 5 in the league for 3 of the last 4 seasons. He better find one hell of a defensive coordinator.

I’m guessing the Vikings DC didn’t have much say in anything with Zim at the helm.
I had always heard Patterson was a pretty good DC but I’m sure he didn’t get his way very often since in reality it was “Zim’s Defense”.

Did they even interview Flores ? Is there a lawsuit in the future ? I am just happy they finally went for an offensive minded coach… maybe we see less prevent D whenever up by 2 points. 😩

He needs to bring in an experienced D coordinator.

My fear is that he’ll be hiring previous position coaches as both OC and DC.

That along with a first time HC is doomed for disaster in my opinion.

O’Connell doesn’t do much for me, as it’s tough to say how much responsibility he really had, not saying anything negative, just TBD. Hopefully a positive relationship with Cousins can get some growth and ownership out of Cousins and the offense.

Lots of guys on the chopping block to get the books right. One I don’t see talked about much but is likely after next year is Dalvin. RB contracts just aren’t worth it, and his guaranteed money is up after the 2022 season I believe.

DC I hope they sign Vic Fangio like yesterday. He’s one of the best in the biz, and would allow the young HC to focus on running the team as a whole and not have to micromanage the defensive side.

Also, they never offered Harbaugh a contract, which I read to mean he wanted entirely too much. Probably a Gruden-esque 10 years 100M, which was a non-starter.

big_g wrote:

Did they even interview Flores ? Is there a lawsuit in the future ? I am just happy they finally went for an offensive minded coach… maybe we see less prevent D whenever up by 2 points. 😩

I dont believe they did, but I am really looking to see what the NFL does about his accusations. They have already denounced them, but why would someone light a match on their own career by making something up? Maybe its desperation, but I just dont see someone hell bent on destroying their career by making something up like that.

It’s going to be a really interesting year for the Vikings, because the NFC looks totally…weak going into next year.

If Rodgers leaves GB, then the NFC north is going to be pretty bad.

NFC West will be pretty strong again, but Rams leveraged their future for a shot this year, and will probably have to see a lot of people walk after this season. Cardinals will be good again and probably the Niners too.

NFC South looks bad. Saints are in cap hell with no QB, Bucs are good but no QB, Atlanta and Carolina are both probably going to be terrible again.

NFC East…Giants/Commanders will probably both suck again, Cowboys will be decent but just don’t bring anything in the playoffs. Not sure about Eagles.

Really seems like a winnable conference next year, but seems like the Vikings are still going to fall short talent-wise unless something changes.

Nobody knows anything about any of these coaches. Nobody. Everything being said is second hand from the Athletic, ESPN or some other media source. We don’t know why Harbough didn’t get the job, we don’t know for sure if a offer was made or if he made a salary demand.

As always time will tell the story. All we can do is wait. In fact, I haven’t read where Erin has been traded or retired yet. I would think that would have some bearing on what happens next year and in the future.

Just announced that Bears sign Andrew Janocko as QB coach from Vikings. What say you Vikings fan? Did we get the real deal or a castoff?

I dunno……ya got a quarterback to coach?

Sylvanboat wrote:

Just announced that Bears sign Andrew Janocko as QB coach from Vikings. What say you Vikings fan? Did we get the real deal or a castoff?

First time I ever heard that name, and he’s been with the Vikings for 7 years. But I don’t think Bill Walsh himself could make Fields into a top 5 NFL QB.

Justin Donson wrote:

It’s going to be a really interesting year for the Vikings, because the NFC looks totally…weak going into next year.

If Rodgers leaves GB, then the NFC north is going to be pretty bad.

NFC West will be pretty strong again, but Rams leveraged their future for a shot this year, and will probably have to see a lot of people walk after this season. Cardinals will be good again and probably the Niners too.

NFC South looks bad. Saints are in cap hell with no QB, Bucs are good but no QB, Atlanta and Carolina are both probably going to be terrible again.

NFC East…Giants/Commanders will probably both suck again, Cowboys will be decent but just don’t bring anything in the playoffs. Not sure about Eagles.

Really seems like a winnable conference next year, but seems like the Vikings are still going to fall short talent-wise unless something changes.

Not to derail the thread, but this is accurate^. The NFC will be wide open next year.

This is mainly why I think Rodgers either retires completely, stays in GB, or forces his way to another NFC team. Him going to the Broncos or any AFC team as everyone brings up just drags him into a tough schedule and a tough path through the playoffs.

This is also why I don’t think the Vikings are going to rebuild, rather run back the almost identical roster. This should be the easiest guaranteed playoff berth they have ever had.

Geee, we might be “the best of the lousiest, and the lousiest of the best”

I’m good with O’Connell. It seems pretty clear to me that the best way forward in the NFL is with a younger, intelligent, offensive minded coach that pairs well with his QB. Yes you need other things too but that is the core.

Let him decide if Cousins is the answer and hopefully either way start grooming somebody behind him. To me, that is the only way for sustained long term success. Getting other people’s washed up coaches and/or QBs isn’t working

This is mainly why I think Rodgers either retires completely, stays in GB, or forces his way to another NFC team. Him going to the Broncos or any AFC team as everyone brings up just drags him into a tough schedule and a tough path through the playoffs.

or #4
Comes and plays for the Purple.