Head Coach · Minnesota Vikings
Kevin O'Connell
The tenth head coach in Minnesota Vikings history, hired February 16, 2022
A former third-round quarterback who barely played, O'Connell built his career on the other side of the headset: quarterbacks coach in Cleveland, offensive coordinator in Washington, then a Super Bowl LVI ring as the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordinator before Minnesota hired him at 36. Four seasons in, he has a 43–25 regular-season record, one division title and the 2024 AP NFL Coach of the Year award — and is still chasing a first playoff win.
Role confirmed current as of September 12, 2026
Four Seasons in Purple
Every season O'Connell has coached in Minnesota, verified individually against Pro Football Reference and the Vikings' own records. Figures run through the completed 2025 season; the 2026 campaign is still in progress and is not included.
Head Coaching Record
43–25
.632 winning percentage · 0–2 in the playoffs
| Season | Record | NFC North | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13–4 | 1st | Lost Wild Card to the New York Giants, 31–24 |
| 2023 | 7–10 | — | Did not qualify |
| 2024 | 14–3 | 2nd | Lost Wild Card to the Los Angeles Rams, 27–9 |
| 2025 | 9–8 | 3rd | Did not qualify |
| Total | 43–25 | 1 title | 0–2 |
Division finishes are listed only for the seasons Minnesota placed in the top three; 2023 is shown as a dash because the team missed the postseason and the finish is not load-bearing here.
The Basics
- Full name
- Kevin William O'Connell
- Born
- May 25, 1985 · Knoxville, TN
- College
- San Diego State
- Hired by Minnesota
- February 16, 2022
- Current role
- Head coach
2024 Coach of the Year
- AP NFL Coach of the Year, 2024 season
- PFWA NFL Coach of the Year, 2024 season
- Super Bowl LVI champion as Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, 2021 season
He did not win the award in 2022, his 13–4 debut season: that vote went to the New York Giants' Brian Daboll.
Division Titles
1
NFC North, 2022
Playoff Berths
2
2022 and 2024
Best Season
14–3
2024 regular season
Super Bowl Ring
LVI
As Rams offensive coordinator
The Route to a Head Coaching Job
Seven NFL seasons as an assistant, across four organisations, ending with a Super Bowl title as a play-caller.
Every Stop on the Way Up
- 2015 Quarterbacks coach Cleveland Browns
- 2016 Special projects San Francisco 49ers
- 2017 Quarterbacks coach Washington
- 2018 Quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Washington
- 2019 Offensive coordinator Washington
- 2020–2021 Offensive coordinator Los Angeles Rams — Super Bowl LVI champion
- 2022–present Head coach Minnesota Vikings
A Quarterback Who Hardly Played
O'Connell's own NFL career is routinely overstated. New England drafted him in the third round of the 2008 draft, 94th overall, out of San Diego State, and he spent five years bouncing between rosters — the Patriots, Detroit Lions, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers — while getting onto the field almost never.
- Drafted
- 2008 · Rd 3, Pick 94 · New England
- Regular-season games
- 2
- Career passing
- 4 of 6, 23 yards
- Career TDs / INTs
- 0 / 0
Two Trips, Two First-Round Exits
Minnesota has reached the playoffs twice under O'Connell and lost in the Wild Card round both times, leaving him 0–2 in the postseason through 2025.
- 2022 Wild Card
- L 24–31 vs NY Giants
- 2024 Wild Card
- L 9–27 vs LA Rams
What the Record Actually Says
A High Floor, an Unfinished Ceiling
O'Connell's first season set the tone for everything that followed. The 2022 Vikings won 13 games and the NFC North, but did it in a way that invited argument: one-score games kept breaking their way, and the signature win of the year was a Week 15 game in which Minnesota trailed the Indianapolis Colts 33–0 at halftime and came back to win 39–36 in overtime — the largest comeback in NFL history. A month later the same team lost at home in the Wild Card round to the New York Giants, 31–24.
The 2023 season fell to 7–10. The 2024 season was the peak: 14–3, second in the division behind Detroit, entry to the playoffs as a wild card, and the AP and PFWA Coach of the Year awards for O'Connell. It ended the same way — a first-round loss, this time 27–9 to the Los Angeles Rams, the club where he won Super Bowl LVI three years earlier. Minnesota went 9–8 in 2025 and missed the postseason, finishing third in the NFC North.
The Vikings announced a contract extension for O'Connell on January 21, 2025. Across four seasons the arithmetic is consistent: 43 regular-season wins against 25 losses, a winning record in three of four years, and no playoff victories. As of September 12, 2026 he remains the team's head coach, entering his fifth season in the role.
Keep Reading
Sources and Verification
Every date, record and statistic on this page was checked against the references below before publication. Anything that could not be confirmed in at least one of them was left off the page rather than estimated.
- Minnesota Vikings coaching staff roster, vikings.com (opens vikings.com in a new tab) — current role, confirmed September 12, 2026
- Kevin O'Connell coverage hub, vikings.com (opens vikings.com in a new tab) — 2024 AP and PFWA Coach of the Year awards, January 21, 2025 contract extension
- Kevin O'Connell coaching record, Pro Football Reference (opens pro-football-reference.com in a new tab) — season-by-season record
- Kevin O'Connell, Wikipedia (opens wikipedia.org in a new tab) — biography, playing career and coaching history
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