Hall of Famer Peyton Manning has incredibly high praise for Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell
The Minnesota Vikings struck gold when they hired Kevin O'Connell to be their head coach. In the three years at the helm, O'Connell has done an excellent job, leading the Vikings to a 34-17 record, including 13 and 14 win seasons. Only one division championship is a nitpick, but they have been great during this […]
The Minnesota Vikings struck gold when they hired Kevin O'Connell to be their head coach.
In the three years at the helm, O'Connell has done an excellent job, leading the Vikings to a 34-17 record, including 13 and 14 win seasons. Only one division championship is a nitpick, but they have been great during this competitive rebuild.
One of the biggest things that O'Connell has brought to the Vikings is the biggest thing. The players are fully bought in and they fight for each other, which is a huge element of success.
Peyton Manning would pick Kevin O'Connell as a playcaller
During an appearance on This Is Football with Kevin Clark, Peyton Manning was asked about which head coach in the playoffs he'd most like to play for.
Manning picked O'Connell and for good reason.
"I'm going with Kevin O'Connell, who I don't really know personally. Eli is talking to him on Saturday. I have [Sean] McVay and [Matthew] Stafford this weekend, Eli has O'Connell and Sam Darnold. That's kind of our routine. So I sent Kevin O'Connell a cold text. Just said, 'I apologize. You're going to have to talk to Eli on Saturday. It's 10 minutes you'll never get back.'
"I have a lot of respect for the way you coach. I just like how he does it. And I'm just, I'm just an observer, right? And I think that moment with Darnold jumps up into the locker room and they celebrate a couple weeks ago, he's just standing back watching this kind of tells you everything you know about Kevin O'Connell that, hey, it's about the players. It's about me putting them in a position to succeed. I'm just going to kind of sit back and watch this, but you see this kind of smile on his face. He's got no ego. He's a dynamic play-caller, so I'm going with Kevin O'Connell whether or not he watches the 20-minute breakdown show of the 20 minutes you'll never get back as well."
As stated above, the culture is a huge part of why O'Connell has turned things around for the Vikings. The other big element that Manning mentions is how creative of a play caller O'Connell is, especially when it comes to attacking down the field.
It also means more with this coming from Manning, who was a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. That's quite an honor for O'Connell.
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It was quite an impressive season for the Vikings
