Tall McVay, Long May He Reign

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@JustinTime18™ said:

Skol Cole

@SkolSmith

·37m

The Rams lined up in 11 personnel 85 % of the time last year, compared to the Vikings who only lined up in it 47 % of the time. But the Rams actually ran the ball in 11 personnel 37 %of the time, more than the Vikings (27 %). The Rams successful run % was 52%. Vikings was 45 %.

I think our heavy run packages hurt our running game,  we would bring more defenders into the box and that really limited the amount of space for our RBs to work.  running out of more wide open sets gives the RB more room to work around the failures of a weak OL IMO.   I hate our run game when people knew we were going to run the ball... which was pretty much all the time if we had a 2 score lead,  regardless of when it was in the game.

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https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/five...576000278e&pid=the-vikings-got-a-young-offensive-minded-coach

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What happens when a Super Bowl assistant becomes a head coach? Just about anythingWhen Kevin O'Connell arrives with the Vikings, if he arrives (see Josh McDaniels), he could fit into any number of categories, a dive into analytics and history reveals.Here is one old-school guy's stab at using analytics to determine the exact level of success — or lack thereof — that awaits soon-to-be-officially-named Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell.

The room for error is roughly 98%, and the study's algorithm is a tad rudimentary, but, hey, what else are we going to do until Super Bowl LVI ends on Feb. 13, allowing the Vikings to kick off Valentine's Day by introducing the Rams' 36-year-old offensive coordinator as their ultimate anti-Mike Zimmer selection?
Using Pro Football Reference, the coaching staffs of each of the 112 Super Bowl teams were reviewed. By these eyes, O'Connell will be the 23rd Super Bowl assistant to become a head coach the next season.
Of course, Step 1 for the Vikings is praying to the football gods that O'Connell doesn't join the man in our first category of Super Bowl assistants.
Worst-case scenario for waiting this long
Josh McDaniels took ownership of the entire bottom floor of horrendous hires of Super Bowl assistants two days after the Patriots' 41-33 shootout loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium.
New England's offensive coordinator had interviewed twice with the Colts. He said yes to their offer two weeks before the Super Bowl. He agreed to terms, was announced as Indy's head coach the day after the Super Bowl and then …
He reneged and stayed in New England.
Of the 22 Super Bowl assistants who have actually been signed as head coaches, 20 became first-time head coaches. Of those 20, 17 were hired by other teams while three were promoted by teams that won the Super Bowl. Let's break down the 17 hired by other teams this way:
Success takes time
We'll place Kyle Shanahan, Zac Taylor and Hall of Famer Chuck Noll here.
Noll was Baltimore's defensive backs coach in Super Bowl III before joining the Steelers as a 37-year-old in 1969. He went 1-13 that year and then formed an NFL dynasty in the '70s.
Shanahan, the Falcons' offensive coordinator in Super Bowl LI, was 38 when he joined the 49ers in 2017. He went 6-10, 4-12 and then reached the Super Bowl. He returned to the NFC title game this year.
Taylor, the Rams' quarterbacks coach in Super Bowl LIII, was 36 when he joined the Bengals in 2019. He went 2-14, 4-11-1 and now he's coaching against Sean McVay, his old boss, in Super Bowl LVI.
Success takes more than time
Mike Shanahan and Bill Belichick reside here. These Super Bowl assistants didn't find success until their second head coaching opportunities.
Shanahan was hired twice as a Super Bowl assistant. He was Denver's 36-year-old offensive coordinator when he went from Super Bowl XXII to the Raiders in 1988. He rammed heads with Al Davis while going 7-9 and 1-3 before being fired.
In 1994, Shanahan was 49ers offensive coordinator in Super Bowl XXIX. A year later, he was Denver's 43-year-old head coach, going 8-8, 13-3 and then winning back-to-back Super Bowls.
Belichick was Giants defensive coordinator in Super Bowl XXV. At 39, he became Browns head coach. He opened with a 6-10 record, was fired after going 37-45, including 1-1 in the playoffs, in five seasons. Five years later, he joined the Patriots, lost 13 of his first 18 games and made a considerable turnaround while collecting a record six Lombardi Trophies.
Good, great, then ugly
Dan Quinn was defensive mastermind of Seattle's Legion of Boom defense in Super Bowls LVIII and LVIX. At 45, he became Falcons head coach.
Quinn started 8-8, reached the Super Bowl in his second season, was leading Tom Brady 28-3 in Super Bowl LI, lost and never recovered. He was fired after an 0-5 start in 2020.
Major failures
We have seven Super Bowl assistants in this category: Howard Schnellenberger (Dolphins, Super Bowl VII), Mike McCormack (Washington, Super Bowl VII), Bill Arnsparger (Dolphins, Super Bowl VIII), Dan Henning (Washington, Super Bowl XVII), Matt Patricia (Patriots, Super Bowl LII), Romeo Crennel (Patriots, Super Bowl XXXIX) and Todd Haley (Cardinals, Super Bowl XIII). The first five on this list never posted a winning record as a head coach.
Schnellenberger was offensive coordinator of the undefeated 1972 Dolphins. He joined the Baltimore Colts at 39, went 4-10 and 0-3 before being fired.
Arnsparger was defensive coordinator of the 1973 Dolphins team that successfully defended its title. He was 48 when he joined the Giants. He started 2-12 en route to a 7-28 record that got him fired.
Pretty average
We'll put Buddy Ryan, Norv Turner, Dave Wannstedt and Frank Reich in this category.
As defensive coordinator of the legendary Bears defense of 1985, Ryan was carried off the field after Super Bowl XX. He was 55 but still one of the hottest assistant coaches ever.
As Eagles coach the next year, he was 5-10-1. In seven seasons as a head coach, he was 55-55-1 in the regular season and 0-3 in the playoffs.
Turner and Wannstedt were Jimmy Johnson's coordinators at the outset of the Cowboys' dynasty of the 1990s. Wannstedt left for the Bears after Super Bowl XXVII. Turner left for Washington after Super Bowl XXVIII. They were 41 and 42, respectively. In a combined 26 years as head coach, they went 202-216, including 6-7 in the playoffs, with neither finishing his career above .500.
Reich, meanwhile, was Indianapolis' Plan B after McDaniels reneged. He was Eagles offensive coordinator in that Super Bowl record-setting offensive explosion at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Reich was 57 when he went 10-6 and made the playoffs in his Colts debut. But four years later, he's 1-2 in the postseason and still stinging from a Week 18 upset loss to lowly Jacksonville that knocked the Colts out of the playoff race this year.
Which path will O'Connell forge in Minnesota? Will he go on to greatness like Noll? Crash and burn immediately like Patricia? Struggle at first and then rise to Super Bowl heights in Year 3 like Taylor?
Who the heck knows. The first step is not pulling a McDaniels.
https://www.startribune.com/super-bowl-a...600143230/


Ever since the Lakers, Minnesota sports fans have a fear of abandonment...The North Stars and Lou Holtz put the exclamation point on it. 

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Vikings mailbag: How will Kevin O'Connell impact the roster? Is the team rebuilding?With a new head coach selected, readers want to know which Vikings will benefit most from O'Connell and what his staff will look like.

By  Andrew Krammer Star TribuneFebruary 4, 2022 — 2:14pm

Q: Who on the roster should be most excited about these new hires? — Dave
AK: During the Rams' playoff run, receiver Justin Jefferson posted on his Twitter account saying he doesn't understand how Cooper Kupp gets so wide open over and over. Jefferson's expected new head coach, Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell, might have a few ideas for him. Not that Jefferson needs much help getting open, but nobody saw the ball more than Kupp last season with 191 targets – 22 more than the next receiver, the Packers' Davante Adams. By extension, quarterback Kirk Cousins may also be excited to reunite with O'Connell, who was his quarterbacks coach in Washington in 2017. It's way too early to know what the Vikings offense will look like, exactly, but one can assume the new coach will want to replicate the Rams' success. And Los Angeles goes through their No. 1 receiver more than any other NFL team.
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Q: Could there be a lesser quality in assistant coaches now that they can't announce Kevin O'Connell as head coach until after the Super Bowl? — @NorthStarsNHL
AK: No, O'Connell or any coach in this situation likely had a coaching staff in mind and pitched it as part of the interview process, with the idea that his preferences would be available. While the Vikings can't put pen to paper with O'Connell until after the Rams play the Bengals on Feb. 13 in the Super Bowl, he can unofficially assemble a staff. Two veteran free-agent coaches with ties to O'Connell stand out: former Washington offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh and former Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. Cavanaugh, 65, has been a senior adviser most recently for Washington and Jets. He was O'Connell's quarterbacks coach with the Jets in 2009 and 2010, and coached with him in Washington from 2017-2019. Pettine was the Browns head coach when O'Connell got his first NFL job in 2015. Former Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell may also be available amid Denver's coaching change. Donatell was Jim Harbaugh's 49ers defensive backs coach for four years, including two that overlapped with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's time in San Francisco.
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Q: Are the Wilfs proving with their decision to pass on Jim Harbaugh that they are open to a rebuild? — @rufiox3
AK: Co-owner Mark Wilf said strongly on Jan. 10 that "we have high expectations for this football team. We believe we can be super competitive right here in 2022. This is not in that mode of a full rebuild." Wilf also said he'd let his football decision-makers make the decisions when asked about quarterback Kirk Cousins' future. Quarterback is the first domino in determining just how competitive the Vikings can be right away under new leadership. If Cousins remains for the final year of his current deal, there's little reason to think O'Connell and a new staff can't turn a talented offense into playoff contenders. But moving on from Cousins for a younger quarterback, like a rookie draft pick, is what would signal a bigger rebuild than ownership has been willing to acknowledge.
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Q: Will any of the previous assistant coaches be kept on O'Connell's staff? — Josh
AK: Receivers coach Keenan McCardell has formed a strong relationship with the Vikings' star duo of Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Jefferson has made clear his desire for the team to keep McCardell on O'Connell's staff. That will be up to the new bosses. O'Connell's staff will come into clearer focus as he likely gets commitments from connections around the league. More assistants could then be let out of contracts to pursue other jobs if they get word that their job is being filled. The Vikings have a few veteran assistants who would likely land elsewhere quickly if not retained, including McCardell, defensive coordinator Andre Patterson and running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu.
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Q: Does hiring O'Connell offer any indication as to what the Vikings will do with Cousins? — @svartsven
AK: Until O'Connell or Adofo-Mensah say otherwise, it really doesn't. They're the only ones who can say what new leadership is thinking about the team's direction with Cousins, who is under contract for one more year at a $35 million salary ($45 million cap hit). The roster has a lot of holes and just as many salary-cap commitments to maneuver. What O'Connell or Adofo-Mensah think of Cousins as a quarterback overall is a different question than what they think of having him at this price, and for this roster. It's worth noting that Cousins prefers and has excelled in the Shanahan/Kubiak style of offense, which O'Connell comes from having coached in Washington and Los Angeles. He'll bring a new version of it to Minnesota, but they could also view Cousins as a fit all the same.
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Q: Who among Harrison Smith, Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks and Adam Thielen have realistic trade value? Can't see them just cutting everyone, but they need to redistribute the cap. — @au_mschmidt 
AK: The one with the most trade value that I'd guess – linebacker Eric Kendricks – is the one you probably don't want to move because he's that valuable. He turns 30 this month, but he'll likely have more than a few productive years left leading a defense. The way contracts are structured for the other three mentioned – Cook, Smith and Thielen – complicate matters. They're all highly paid among peers, and much of that money is on the books as signing bonus prorations. Meaning if they're dealt without an agreed new contract, they'll leave more money on the books than they're clearing. It's not impossible, but it's another hurdle. Those are all still impactful stars who might be worth keeping on current or reworked deals.
https://www.startribune.com/vikings-mail...600143142/

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@greediron said:

@purplefaithful said:

@mgobluevikes said:
That McVay coaching tree is more than a bit skewed when they just happened to fall into situations that include Burrow, Rodgers,  Herbert and healthy cap situations. O'Connell is probably going to be looking for a bridge QB, and figuring out how to rework a defense with overpaid, injured or aging players. Gonna be interesting around here if/when we're at 5-7 wins next yr. 

That said, the founding father got it pretty much done with Goff, at least at first. When the ceiling became obvious with Goff, they did something about it. 

... And this new brain-trust figures out the QB of tomorrow far better than RS ever could. 

This.

Kudos to them for recognizing his limitations, not getting stuck investing in someone who wasn't going to get you there.  Then not vocalizing it, but trading him when he had some value left.

This was a smart move on their part. But let's not pretend that Jared Goff is anywhere near as good as Kirk Cousins.