And it’s about damn well time, too.
It’s only taken the first fifteen weeks of the 2024 NFL season for some folks to realize that Kevin O’Connell is pretty good at this “coaching football,” thing, but the recognition is better late than never, I suppose.
After leading the Minnesota Vikings to their seventh straight win to push the team’s record to 12-2, O’Connell is finally the betting favorite to be named the 2024 NFL Coach of the Year, according to FanDuel.
As of today, O’Connell is +110 to win the award, while Dan Campbell is now at +340 and in second place. Behind them, noted jerk Sean Payton is at +550 and Dan Quinn is at +600 with every other potential candidate sitting at +1400 or worse.
Given the team’s performance relative to preseason expectations, it’s hard to argue that anyone has done a better head coaching job than O’Connell this year. He’s navigated a roster that’s currently working with about $70 million in dead cap space into a tie for the top record in the NFC. He’s also revitalized the career of quarterback Sam Darnold, whose signing was widely regarded by the Really Smart Football People™ as a bit of a joke and a sign of a team that wasn’t seriously thinking of competing in 2024.
Instead, O’Connell’s team has lost two games by a total of twelve points, sandwiched between a five-game winning streak to start the season and the seven-game winning streak they’re currently riding. They’re one of three teams in the NFC to officially secure their spot in the postseason party and are still very much alive for a division title and the #1 seed in the conference.
I’m not sure who else you’d even consider at this point, to be honest. Sure, Payton has gotten the Broncos to overperform this season compared to what was expected. On the other hand, he’s Sean Payton. I don’t think Vikings fans require me to expound any further on that. And don’t talk to me about Dan Campbell. . .Detroit was one of the favorites in the NFC and has been all season. Plus, that dumb onside kick decision against Buffalo is disqualifying all by itself.
If O’Connell were to win the award, he would be the first Vikings coach in 55 seasons to do so. The only coach in franchise history to win the award is the late, great Bud Grant, and that happened back in 1969. No, not even going 15-1 in 1998 was enough for Dennis Green to get named Coach of the Year, which seems a little weird. Grant is the only Coach of the Year in Vikings’ history and that happened before a lot of us were even alive.
O’Connell coached the Vikings to a 13-4 mark in his first season with the team in 2022. He joins Grant as the only coaches in team history to win at least 12 games in a season, and if the Vikings win one more game he’ll be the only coach in franchise history with multiple seasons with 13 wins or more. Granted, most of the seasons that Grant was the head coach for were just 14 games long, but that doesn’t make what O’Connell is doing any less impressive.
Kevin O’Connell is finally getting recognized for what he’s doing in Minnesota this year, and it’s about time.
