With Brian Flores set to return to Minnesota, Kevin O'Connell has clear message about the future

The Minnesota Vikings had multiple individuals nominated for awards at Thursday night's NFL Honors with head coach Kevin O'Connell winning Coach of the Year. He beat out Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn. After winning the award, O'Connell made comments on the record about quarterback Sam Darnold, having […]

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
Add as preferred source on Google

The Minnesota Vikings had multiple individuals nominated for awards at Thursday night's NFL Honors with head coach Kevin O'Connell winning Coach of the Year. He beat out Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn.

After winning the award, O'Connell made comments on the record about quarterback Sam Darnold, having to clarify comments that were initially misunderstood. He spoke highly of Darnold, while offering nothing extra about the future at quarterback for the Vikings.

youtube placeholder image

Kevin O'Connell speaks highly about Brian Flores

One of the things that the Super Bowl brings is a multitude of interviews that you normally don't get to see. O'Connell spent time talking with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk and praised defensive coordinator Brian Flores, stating they have "unfinished business."

“I can’t speak more highly about what Brian Flores has brought to Minnesota,” O’Connell said. “When we identified him as the guy that we wanted to bring in coming off the 2022 season, he has been fantastic. Scheme, relationship with players, my personal relationship with him, how we build our team. I think Brian Flores should be a head coach in the National Football League. He will be again. . . . But, at the same time, we feel like we’ve got some unfinished business together in Minnesota and we can’t wait to get to work for 2025.”

The reason why O'Connell and Flores get to run it back is due to the latter not getting a head coaching opportunity this cycle. Despite getting many interviews, Flores failed to get one of the most coveted 32 jobs in all of football. 

The defense of the Vikings took a massive step forward, finishing fifth in scoring defense and sacks, while also being second in run defense. Having a third year well of continuity with O'Connell is going to be a huge factor in the 2025 team taking the next step.

Related Articles