Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell Has Become the NFL’s Most Underrated Offensive Play Caller

A year ago defensive coaches ranked Kevin O’Connell fifth among the league’s top offensive play callers. The Athletic’s latest survey, released July 29, drops him to honorable mention. That swing feels abrupt for a coach who produced top-10 scoring offenses in two of his first three seasons and repeatedly got usable production from quarterbacks other teams discarded.

The 2025 season with J.J. McCarthy under center left scars. Minnesota finished 26th in points (20.2 per game), near the bottom in total yards, and 28th in EPA per play. Those numbers erased the memory of earlier results for some. Yet the same coaches who voted still listed O’Connell among the honorable mentions, right beside Sean Payton and Todd Monken. One strong year from Klint Kubiak in Seattle earned him a top-10 spot this summer. Three years of solid work from O’Connell apparently did not.

Look at the first three seasons. In 2022 the Vikings ranked eighth in scoring and seventh in yards. In 2023 they still sat 10th in total offense despite quarterback upheaval. In 2024 they ranked ninth in points and posted a career year from Sam Darnold. O’Connell called plays through Josh Dobbs’ emergency starts, Carson Wentz’s brief runs, and even Max Brosmer’s limited snaps. The unit never reached true elite status, but it stayed competitive with limited talent at the most important position.

The McCarthy year carries real blame. O’Connell’s staff drafted the Michigan quarterback and committed to him. The offense simplified routes, leaned on screens, and still ranked near the bottom of the league. Injuries piled up. Execution lagged. That season alone justifies a drop in the rankings. Erasing the previous body of work does not.

Training camp in 2026 offers a clearer path. Kyler Murray signed a one-year deal in March and has split first-team snaps with McCarthy since the spring. The competition remains open as of the first week of August, yet the addition of a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback changes the equation. Murray brings mobility, experience, and a proven ability to operate in space. Pair that with a healthier offensive line and Justin Jefferson still at the peak of his powers, and the scheme O’Connell has refined for four years suddenly has fewer excuses.

Defensive coaches who face these systems every week still respect the design. O’Connell comes from the McVay tree but leans more aggressive in the intermediate and deep areas. He mixes play-action with vertical threats and keeps the quarterback’s decisions relatively clean. When the quarterback can process and throw with accuracy, the results show. When the quarterback cannot, the numbers collapse. That pattern is not unique to Minnesota, yet O’Connell has paid a steeper public price for it than most.

Kubiak’s rise after one productive year in Seattle is fair. He maximized limited skill talent and helped the Seahawks reach the Super Bowl. That success deserved recognition. It should not automatically outrank three prior seasons of O’Connell keeping an offense functional through constant quarterback turnover. One season of excellence is impressive. Sustained competence under harder conditions deserves equal weight.

The Vikings enter 2026 with clearer talent at quarterback than they had a year ago. The offensive line looks healthier. The weapons remain elite. O’Connell has already shown he can design schemes that stress defenses when the pieces fit. If the unit returns to the top half of the league in scoring and efficiency, the same coaches who left him off the latest top-10 list will look back and wonder how the drop happened so fast.

Minnesota’s head coach does not need another narrative. He needs the ball in the hands of a quarterback who can execute the one he already built. The rest of the league will notice quickly enough.