Kevin O’Connell’s Press Conference from the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine

On Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, the NFL media got a chance to hear from the reigning, defending, undisputed NFL Coach of the Year, Kevin O’Connell of our Minnesota Vikings. O’Connell touched on numerous topics during his 15 minutes at the podium, and the good folks with the Vikings’ PR department have provided a transcript of the event for your reading pleasure. They’ve also provided the video of the press conference, so you can check both out below.

Good afternoon, everybody. It’s good to see everybody back here and it’s good to be back in Indianapolis. I always appreciate this event so much. You guys all know I’ve been through this as a player, a coach now, enough to know the importance of it, but also a lot of these players, they’ve been dreaming of this process for a long time. I’m very much looking forward to getting to know this year’s draft class, so with that I’ll turn it over to you guys.

After the Wild Card, you talked about the need to replace some players on the interior offensive line? What do you think is the ideal path for that and how does Christian Darrisaw affect that?

Not necessarily. The replace word, I don’t know if I would necessarily use that. It was more just in an emphasis on how I believe we need to play, and we need to be able to have a level of execution and a level of physicality that holds up over 17 games. Then as we learned this year, after playing well in December, which was a goal of ours, we got to find a way to get back in the dancing and put our best foot forward in January. Christian Darrisaw’s doing really well in his rehab but you know I think you know for Cam Robinson to step in and really I don’t know how many times in the history of football it’s happened, where you can lose it you know a franchise left tackle and win nine games in a row after that, so I think it speaks a lot to Cam Robinson. But also, just when you go through the tape, and you really watch CDs [Christian Darrisaw] impact I think he was playing as well as anybody in football through those first six weeks and it was a huge loss for a lot of aspects of our play style and what we really wanted to play like through the totality of 2024. We were able to overcome it, but I’ll be very much looking forward to getting CD [Christian Darrisaw] back. He’s having a great off-season. The rehab process, he’s absolutely killing it every step of the way, so I look forward to seeing how his spring and summer go and get him ready to roll for 2025.

Along those lines, how do you see the offensive lineman coming out in this draft? Have they progressed as a unit to where they’re more NFL ready today than maybe they were when you came out 10 years ago or is it about the same level?

I think it’s hard to say. I think the game has changed. The spread offense when I was coming out was there. There was examples of it throughout college football but I just think as a whole the majority of college football is now such a space game and everybody always wants to talk about the players who play in space with the ball in hand, run after catch, the defensive structures that have to play against that, the athleticism of the quarterback continuing to be something that shows up more and more and more, especially at the college level. I think lineman as well in that line of scrimmage game, has also translated to it being a space game and athleticism in different movements and it’s more than just power and physicality. There are different layers to it. I’m in the very initial stages of getting to know this year’s group, but I can tell you that there’s a lot of versatility in the group guys that have played multiple spots, tackles that have the ability to play maybe all five spots across the offensive line, guards that can bump out and play tackle, guards that can play center and where they project over their career might be different early. They might be a great pencil in kind of player at this position, but we really see you know a top-tier caliber player growing in another position, so I think that the fact that it is I believe a deep draft at the position is an exciting thing and knowing that as we get into the evaluation, it’s about finding the players that that meet that criteria of smart, tough guys that love football and then you look at your scheme and where you want to evolve to and how they fit into that. But I’m excited to get to know these guys.

Where are you with your quarterback position in 2025 with Sam [Darnold] being a free agent and J.J. [McCarthy] coming back from his injury?

Yeah, I mean I think he just said it. As a quarterback fan, as a quarterback guy that has played the position, coached in the position coach level, coordinator I was always in the room and now as a head coach I’m probably in the room a little bit more than some of those guys would probably like. You always sit back and say you’re very thankful to have the depth that we’ve had at the position. To end the room with essentially the five guys sitting in the room that we had including J.J. [McCarthy], who was a part of every meeting and then heavily involved at that point in his rehab process, you’re incredibly thankful for that. Sam’s [Darnold] year was so fun to be a part of. Just thinking back to this time last year and then onward through the off-season, acquiring Sam and then getting him to trust in us to help him on that next step in his quarterback journey and what a step it was. I’m so proud of the year he had. J.J. is doing really well from a standpoint of where he’s progressed to his rehab and in a phase now where he’s got his sight set on that off-season program start date and getting off to a great start there. And then I can’t speak enough about Daniel Jones. In the short time we did have him, I thought it was incredibly impactful for Daniel but also for us to get to know him and then allow him to kinda learn a little bit about our offense, how we train and coach the quarterback position and he showed some real positive early results from that. I feel incredibly fortunate to be discussing those kinds of names with Brett Rippen and Nick Mullens also in our quarterback room and we’re evaluating the short term and long-term aspect of it. It’s still early in the offseason process but ultimately excited about what lies ahead in 2025.

When the NFL world is giving up on a quarterback, how do you know you need to give them more time?

I would be slow to say that the NFL world is giving up on quarterbacks, I think it’s become very popular for people to decide in the moment people can or can’t play. They were right when they decided that about me as a player, but I think it’s always very important to evaluate each situation as its own. I view it more about us in regard to what process do you have for the position? What do you ask the position to do in your offense? And then how are you going to train it both mentally, physically, technique and fundamentals to play the style that you believe will best suit them and allow them to sustain and I think it’s hard to sustain the greatest quarterbacks in our league, what separates them is their ability to do it week in and week out, regardless of circumstance, and it’s easier said than done, but we feel very strongly about our quarterback process that we go through, how we train the position of Minnesota. We’ve got unbelievable coaches, Josh McCown being a former player that obviously experienced so much in his NFL journey. Wes Philips played quarterback at the collegiate level and has been around coaching at a high level, his whole life with his family background. And then I believe in building a quarterback room that ultimately is the final stamp on those guys building the relationships to grow and improve together, because it’s not just about the guy who’s on the field our jobs just to make sure that we’re growing that entire room whether it’s a young player a guy at a midpoint in his quarterback journey or veteran player like we coached my first two years here in Kirk [Cousins]. With the difficulty of the position each player deserves the utmost, respect him, and emphasis from us as coaches to help them reach whatever that’s going to be in the time we have we want to help him reach that potential.

You were talking about Kirk a year ago here. About how you had a great relationship with Kirk [Cousins] and you loved them as a person, but then some are out of control. Right now, obviously it’s not the same situation with Sam [Darnold] but where are you at with Sam?

I think the similarities in regard to the quarterbacks we’re talking about is they played really good football for the Minnesota Vikings and that is number one, always my number one priority. Regardless of the circumstances that either I’m stepping into or in some cases, the player we acquire or bring in are stepping into the goal is that we leave them in a place where they can start their journey with the Minnesota Vikings and play good football and that’s happened so that’s the starting point. I’ve had great dialogue with Sam [Darnold] from the time this season ended, up until very recently and I think my relationship with Sam has grown to a point where the respect level is sky high. This process is going to play out both short term and long-term for the Minnesota Vikings and Sam is in a position where the NFL thinks he can play quarterback at a high-level so that’s a really good thing and I feel very proud to be a part of helping him get to this point we’ll see kind of where it goes from here.

When you coach at such a young age, what are the benefits and challenges of that? Specifically, that first year?

Kellen Moore is going through a little bit right now, that’s probably where you’re coming from. There’s something to be said from leaving a Super Bowl parade and immediately within 24 hours be sitting at the head coaching desk at a totally different franchise that really doesn’t care all that much about that Super Bowl journey and what you’ve went through. You now need to give everything you have to that new organization. You know what you’re signing up for in the moment. There’s nothing greater for a coach than being the head coach in the National Football League and I feel very fortunate to be the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and that hasn’t changed from the moment I arrived in Minnesota and I’m sure Kellen [Moore] probably feels the same way about his opportunity in New Orleans. It’s going to be a challenge but as I told Kellen a few days ago, I got a chance to talk to him, there’s always time. There might be less time for sleep and eating and other basic human things, but there’s time to do football and there’s time to do it the way you want to do it. I look forward to seeing how Kellen does, I’m a big fan of his.

Did you find your age in that first year to help?

All of us have that lead us to that moment. My first job as a quarterback coach in the NFL, Josh McCown was in the quarterback room and I can’t remember whether he was two or three years older than me at the time, so the first step in that process was proving to a player that had accomplished a lot his NFL career, that I can help him. That’s your number one job as a coach, regardless of whatever anybody thinks out there, your number one job is to help your players improve and give them a path to doing so whether that’s technique, fundamentals, schematics, the atmosphere in what you surround them with. That’s your job as a coach, so accomplishing that on different steps of your journey up until getting the opportunity to be a head coach, those are the experiences you rely on. And then you rely on a lot of people you got a chance to be around. I got a chance to be around one of my best friends in the whole world, Sean McVay. and a guy that I’m six months older than him, but he’s a mentor of mine. How does that make any sense, you had to have been there to experience it and that put me in a great position to be in the role that I’m in now.

What is Jacksonville getting out of Grant Udinski?

I think having great relationships with both those guys, I know Shane Waldron as well, their pass game coordinator. Most recently getting to work with Grant [Udinski] over these last three years has been just absolutely one of the highlights of our time in Minnesota getting to do it together. I kind of brought Grant in, believe it or not, as the Chief of Staff three years ago. He obviously did some of those jobs, but we did a lot of football together. I’ve joked that if you added up all the hours that I spent with Grant one-on-one and then you add all the hours that I spent with my wife over the past three years, I’d like to think Leah O’Connell won out, but it’s going to be probably a pretty close finish there so I’m incredibly close with Grant. I will say this, he’s prepared for this opportunity. He’s going to do great things for Liam [Coen], who I obviously have worked with in the past as well. I’m a big fan of Liam and what he was able to do in Tampa. Seeing those guys kind of link up its bittersweet for me just knowing how close I was with Grant and how impactful he was on me and our team, but I’m really excited for him and the opportunity that he has working with some great people. I’m a big fan of Tony Boselli, I’ve known him for a long time and obviously they’ve got a lot of great folks now in that organization and it will be interesting to see what they’re able to accomplish.

How much did the VR training world help J.J. [McCarthy] develop and how did that come about for you guys?

It was certainly a part of what we tried to do is just make sure to work backwards from number one the physical reps and being out there playing are always the number one way to advance forward, but how do we, knowing that that part of it was removed as the number one priority was getting healthy, which we feel great about now, but how do we know kind of offset some of that through the use of the VR stuff, through the use of going through weekly process that would mirror what Sam [Darnold] went through. Whether that’s film study on a Tuesday, going through the early down plan on Wednesday, third down red zone as the week progresses and then being in that meeting late in the week, that Saturday meeting where we go through the call sheet. My favorite meeting of the week is the red pen meeting to try to get as many plays off that call sheet as I can, but simulating, what are your favorite places in the plan? What do you feel most comfortable with as if you were playing in the game? We did that time and time again this year to try to see what we could get out of this year for J.J. [McCarthy] to make it so that when he hits the ground running in the spring, he is in the best possible situation to do that, and I think the VR component was certainly part of that memories of playing in the college.

What are your memories of playing in college with Darren Mougey?

You know what I’ll always remember is being on campus and as you know, I don’t know if it’s changed with NIL and all the craziness now that exist, but you were always waiting for that next year signing class to come in and I remember the highlight of the side of the class the year after I got senior state was Darren Mougey this hot shot Hercules looking fella that came from Arizona and I remember thinking holy cow I got my cut out for me to stay on the field. What transpired from there was a great friendship with Darren [Mougey]. He was a really great player, a great teammate, unbelievable leadership qualities, smart, guys always gravitated towards him. I knew whatever he took, he would have success with that, and he’s been around some great people in the NFL. He’s very, very well thought of throughout the entire league and I’m really excited to see what he’s able to do there. Obviously, I think the world of A.G. [Aaron Glenn] as well and being a former Jet, it would be cool to see some guys that I know really well in some leadership roles.

How do you balance having a specialized division of labor versus having too many cooks in the kitchen?

First of all, the cooks in the kitchen thing is something that takes leadership in your coordinator positions. Brian Flores has done an unbelievable job and Flo [Brian Flores] rightly so, gets a ton of credit for what they’ve been able to accomplish on the defensive side, but I think about Daronte Jones and Mike Siravo and Marcus Dixon and Mike Pettine and some of these guys that have made up kind of the think tank that Flo leans so heavily on. Those guys are always meeting, they’re always talking, exchanging ideas and what comes out of that is some pretty cool stuff and then the best part is their ability to coach it and teach it. Offensively, it’s the same way, special teams it’s the same way with Matt Daniels, so that’s the starting point and then I do believe that throughout the different times of the year, we split the fields, we have everybody getting the maximum amount of walk-through reps on the grass, and with that I believe in having a set of eyes coaching you every single rep you take, so we have the ability to have you know two fields going at the same time with every single position in some capacity, getting real time feedback from a coach and what does that do? That helps players, but what it also does is develop coaches and I think a great example of that is a guy that was our assistant quarterback coach, assistant coordinator on the journey of titles that Grant [Udinski] had in Minnesota. He’s now an offensive coordinator and prepared for that moment in the NFL, so I think if you handle it the right way it all starts with me making sure from a leadership standpoint people clearly understand roles, and responsibilities, but then give runway for growth and an impact throughout your staff and that’s how you maximize it.

How have you seen guys in growing your own coach tree, come up through the ranks and go on to other jobs with other organizations?

It’s really cool to see guys get opportunities and other teams believing in you know acquiring somebody from your organization because that means you’re doing some things right there there’s a lot of smart people in the NFL so you always have to take it for what it is as there’s been some success and guys are now prepared because of how we do things for that opportunity, but it also makes you think back to your journey, you don’t get to be around Sean McVay and Raheem Morris and Brandon Staley and those two years in LA and then my time in Washington with Jay Gruden. Going back further with Chip Kelly and Mike Pettine, and even in Cleveland it’s all part of that journey and I take it, I take a lot of pride in and being a part of the journey of other coaches because I was able to be around a lot of great coaches as well.

Once again, thank you to the Vikings’ PR team for providing the transcript of Tuesday’s press conference. O’Connell touched on a number of interesting topics and has given us plenty to talk about as we get closer to the start of free agency here.