Vikings Owner Believes in Kevin O’Connell But Says “Patience Isn’t Infinite”

Kirk Cousins used to say that the letters in NFL actually stand for “Not for Long.” The idea, of course, is that job security is in short supply in the ultra competitive football league.

The Vikings owner appears to be saying something similar.

While chatting with the media a couple of days ago, Mark Wilf got asked some direct questions about the level of belief in the team’s leadership. Overwhelmingly, Wilf indicated that the team’s ownership group — it’s a family run gig — has belief in where things are going. GM Nolan Teasley still has that new car small, so it’s easy to feel good about him; better yet, the new leader for the front office is meshing well with Coach O’Connell. Eventually, though, there’s going to need to be real success.

Vikings Owner Mark Wilf Knows KOC Needs to Produce

The saying is that coaches are hired to be fired. Eventually, the majority of coaches get to the same fate. O’Connell knew that when he signed up for the job.

“Ultimately, it’s about not just playoff wins,” Wilf explained, “but championships. And that is the ultimate measure, we know that. We try to be patient as an ownership, and that we know is the ultimate success, but of course patience isn’t infinite. We understand that but I feel really good about the direction of this football club.”

Alright, digest those words for a moment.

Mark Wilf did not say that O’Connell is on the hot seat. In fact, the overwhelming sense one gets from listening to the presser is that he’s enthusiastic about where the team is moving. Wilf could be bluffing, doing an impression of a politician by offering empty words as so many in the NFL have in the past. I tend to trust what he’s saying, though.

Still, O’Connell has made his mistakes.

Most notably, the skipper has gone 0-2 in the playoffs. On at least one occasion, the Vikings lost to an inferior team. The New York Giants took down the Vikings following the 2022 season largely due to an unbalanced offense that got eviscerated at the line of scrimmage. Did the team not understand that Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams happen to do okay at playing football?

Plus, the defense couldn’t corral Daniel Jones alongside Saquon Barkley. Much of the blame got shifted to Ed Donatell (fair). Don’t forget who hired Donatell, though.

Otherwise, there have been issues with establishing a respectable ground game. The o-line has improved since the Mike Zimmer days but has reached a plateau (though that could change with Keith Carter leading the front five). And then there has been the failure to develop J.J. McCarthy.

It wasn’t long ago, folks, that O’Connell publicly declared that Minnesota had drafted its franchise passer. Similarly of note is the coach’s proclamation that franchises fail quarterbacks before quarterbacks fail franchises.

McCarthy is now battling Kyler Murray to remain as the QB1; most appear to believe that Murray is a shoo-in.

Goodness, some even insist that Minnesota is sorting through an elaborate game of pigskin tomfoolery that has a hearty helping hogwash. Essentially, the coaches are saying it’s a competition but actually know that Murray is going to get the top spot. That’s not true, of course, but the sentiment does capture how lopsided the odds are in the passer battle.

Kevin O’Connell is going into his fifth season as the Vikings’ head coach. He does so with a pair of playoff appearances, an NFC North victory, and a Coach of the Year Award. He has done wonderfully when hiring Brian Flores and Matt Daniels. So, too, does he do well in front of the media as a spokesperson for the franchise who is keen to praise the Vikings owners, fans, and community.

As Mark Wilf suggested, though, there is a time when patience runs out from within the cutthroat NFL. Avoiding that fate means winning.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Advertisement