12-24-2022, 02:24 PM
Under certain conditions, the halftime speech Kevin O'Connell delivered to his players with the Vikings down 33-0 last Saturday could have been met with eye rolls and dismissed as white noise.
O'Connell needed to convince 53 players, nearly all of whom had played more than 100 organized football games in their lives, that the 67 points scored against in them in their previous six quarters were merely a precursor to the historic rally they would accomplish in the next two. A skeptical listener could have dismissed it as inspirational pablum — except in this case, O'Connell had veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson already providing the opening act.
"I overheard him walk over towards the offense — 'We're going to get stops, you just need five touchdowns. That's nothing,' " O'Connell recalled after the game. "It was a nice little moment for me to lead right in off of. I said, 'Pat, you're exactly right.' That's what we needed at the time. It was probably the most motivated I've been to challenge our players."
In O'Connell's view, none of the words would have counted without the months of messaging he's used to give them weight. The first-year coach had preached about the Vikings' culture for more than 10 months by that point, using each of the team's first nine one-score victories as an example of its togetherness as a competitive advantage.
It's impossible to prove his point concretely. But 14 games into the 2022 season, the Vikings have their first NFC North title in five years and as many wins as they have ever recorded under a first-year coach. To them, the wins, and the close ones especially, prove the coach's philosophy has worked.
"In today's world, in particular [in] football, there's so many ways to measure everything," defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said. "The human heart and resiliency, there's just no way to measure that. We're drafting guys; until we see our guys under pressure, we don't have a way to measure that. The other thing we don't have a way to measure is the connectivity and the team chemistry. The best way that I know is when it's times under pressure, when you really need people. And right now, I would say we're at a high level there."
With the Vikings' comeback victory over the Colts, O'Connell joined Dennis Green as the only coaches in team history to win a division title in their first season. Another win this season would be O'Connell's 12th, allowing him to pass Green for the most in his first year. And though he is in the middle of a crowded field, O'Connell could have a chance at becoming the first Vikings coach to win Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year honors since Bud Grant in 1969
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-kevin-oconnell-nfl-coach-of-the-year-dennis-green/600238416/
O'Connell needed to convince 53 players, nearly all of whom had played more than 100 organized football games in their lives, that the 67 points scored against in them in their previous six quarters were merely a precursor to the historic rally they would accomplish in the next two. A skeptical listener could have dismissed it as inspirational pablum — except in this case, O'Connell had veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson already providing the opening act.
"I overheard him walk over towards the offense — 'We're going to get stops, you just need five touchdowns. That's nothing,' " O'Connell recalled after the game. "It was a nice little moment for me to lead right in off of. I said, 'Pat, you're exactly right.' That's what we needed at the time. It was probably the most motivated I've been to challenge our players."
In O'Connell's view, none of the words would have counted without the months of messaging he's used to give them weight. The first-year coach had preached about the Vikings' culture for more than 10 months by that point, using each of the team's first nine one-score victories as an example of its togetherness as a competitive advantage.
It's impossible to prove his point concretely. But 14 games into the 2022 season, the Vikings have their first NFC North title in five years and as many wins as they have ever recorded under a first-year coach. To them, the wins, and the close ones especially, prove the coach's philosophy has worked.
"In today's world, in particular [in] football, there's so many ways to measure everything," defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said. "The human heart and resiliency, there's just no way to measure that. We're drafting guys; until we see our guys under pressure, we don't have a way to measure that. The other thing we don't have a way to measure is the connectivity and the team chemistry. The best way that I know is when it's times under pressure, when you really need people. And right now, I would say we're at a high level there."
With the Vikings' comeback victory over the Colts, O'Connell joined Dennis Green as the only coaches in team history to win a division title in their first season. Another win this season would be O'Connell's 12th, allowing him to pass Green for the most in his first year. And though he is in the middle of a crowded field, O'Connell could have a chance at becoming the first Vikings coach to win Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year honors since Bud Grant in 1969
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-kevin-oconnell-nfl-coach-of-the-year-dennis-green/600238416/
