Kevin O'Connell makes feelings known on J. J. McCarthy's future after Vikings' decision with Sam Darnold
Kevin O'Connell and the Minnesota Vikings have finally decided who their main quarterback will be. On Tuesday, the organization announced that it was not franchise-tagging Sam Darnold, making him a free agent and paving the way for J.J. McCarthy to take over.
On the Fitz & Whit podcast on Tuesday, O'Connell said he is very excited about finally getting to work with the sophomore.
"We're absolutely fired up about J.J. McCarthy. There's a reason why, after a really long, extensive process, we decided to make him a Minnesota Viking.
"And I'm fired up about JJ's future and where he's at coming off of a really unfortunate injury. He's had success basically every year he's ever played football. He is all-ball all the time, sun up to sun down and beyond."
According to Fox Sports, the Vikings are still considering extending Darnold in the short term. The former third overall pick will be joined in free agency by running back Aaron Jones and a litany of defensive backs.
Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell discusses how time at the Patriots helped in his development
In the same podcast appearance, Kevin O'Connell discussed his journey and development as a coach in the NFL.
The former quarterback began his coaching career in 2013 as a private quarterbacks coach who boasted Heisman winners Johnny Manziel and Marcus Mariota among his clients. In 2015, he entered the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.
However, he did not fully establish himself as a top-tier coach until 2020, when he joined the Los Angeles Rams as an offensive coordinator. They won Super Bowl LVI the following season with Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp. That made O'Connell a very valuable commodity and the Minnesota Vikings capitalized by hiring him as a head coach in 2022.
O'Connell said he realized his coaching potential back when he was still playing for the New England Patriots.
"Somehow your biggest nightmare as a young player in the league is you know you don't know enough," he said. "And now you're going to a place where you're gonna try to replicate and walk the walk and talk the talk of what's going on on a minute-to-minute, daily basis. I realized very quickly (that) you better write everything down and be a sponge.
"It was intimidating, but it kinda created the foundation for every job I had from that point forward."
The Vikings have reached the playoffs in two of O'Connell's three seasons in charge, winning the division in 2022.