Not sure who else I would want for this team right now....

[StickierBuns]

...than Kevin O'Connell. This guy wins football games. Smart, smart dude. He's also got a rare way to connect to his players that has created an enviable culture around the NFL. This was the guy I wanted from Day 1. And he was smart enough to realize what an opportunity Minnesota would be for him. KOC picked Minnesota as much as Minnesota picked O'Connell. He had a plan for this franchise that allowed him to optimize quickly. You won't outcoach him strategically offensively, it won't happen. Players have to execute, that's the variable. 

I always feel confident with KOC if the game is going to be chess with a tough opponent. And he's got a locker room with dudes that respect and love the guy. When he resigns with Minnesota, its going to be big bucks. Watch and see. And he's paired with the right guy right now with Flores. Fingers crossed that BFlo is here in 2025, but a little birdie told me he will be. He thinks the team will be even better next year and he wants to be here for it. And Brian loves Minnesota. 

This guy is getting The Bag soon and he deserves it. They'll need him because the NFCN is going to be a real dogfight the next 5+ years.

[purplefaithful]

Its interesting you post this now...

I LITERALLY was going back earlier THIS A.M. looking at who all was hired as HC in 22 - and who's at the top of that heap a few years later.

It's KOC.

Wilfs cost themselves a lot of $$$ not signing him at the start of this season. I agree, the $ he will get will surprise a lot of fans. 8/2 with a journeyman, washed-up QB? 

I hope your sources are right about BFlo, I think KOC may have to search for a new DC as Flores has higher aspirations, and I want his teams to get better in the trenches, less finesse. But from an x/o guy, team culture guy? He's one of the best. And yes, he is a QB whisperer too. 

Not sure if this list is complete:

KOC
McDaniel
Lovie
Doug Pederson
Eberflus
Dennis Allen
Hackett
Dabol
Mayo
McDaniels
Bowles

https://www.nfl.com/news/10-new-nfl-head...-let-s-ran

[supafreak84]

I wanted Harbaugh. Would have been an interesting reunion with him and JJM teaming up in college and then the NFL. I like KOC, but would really like to see this team have some playoff success first before I crown him. He has done a hell of a job though with this year's squad. Nobody, probably not even KOC's mom had us at 8-2 at this point in the season

[dadevike]

I like KOC a lot but he still has a ways to go.

I was concerned yesterday when they came out very conservative on offense in the second half. It would have worked if we had gotten the ball back on third and 10 from the Titans' own 2-yard line. After the 98-yard TD, I thought KOC better not stay conservative. He didn't, and we needed the points. Although we did get some help from the refs.

[medaille]

I like KOC. That said, I don’t think he’s perfect or anything. I think he’s focused a lot on his passing game, kind of ignored the running game, kind of ignored the defense, kind of ignored other passing concepts.

This year, I think he’s improved at the running game.
With BFlo, he doesn’t really need to pay attention to defense, but if BFlo moves on, will we be able to continue our defensive success? A great HC will continue having success on both sides even as their coaches get poached.
I think our offense could really become more multiple in the passing game, so that when a defense is taking something away, we have more tools to attack them with, rather than hoping that the players can execute better.

I also think, it’s a bit of a TBD on whether he’s a QB whisperer. It seems that up until now, we haven’t really seen any QB be the master of his scheme. We’ve seen goodish QB performances, but I don’t think our offense has really operated at the peak level our talent is capable of. Our offense has the talent to be a dominant offense, but I think we’ve been hovering in the pretty good range his whole time.

[Montana Tom]

Looking at all the options that were hired in 2022, we hit the jackpot. Lucky? Maybe in hindsight. He seemed different from the start. I had heard that he came in to the interview with an actual plan of what he would like to do (rather than a hello, how are you?).

Here's all current NFL coaching records:

Overall Record Service Championships
Name Team Seasons Gms W L T Pct Yrs Post DIV CON LG SB
Darren Rizzi NO 2024 2 2 0 0 1.000 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jim Harbaugh LAC 2011-14,24 82 56 25 1 .689 5 3 2 1 0 0
Nick Sirianni PHI 2021-24 66 44 22 0 .667 4 3 1 1 0 0
Matt LaFleur GB 2019-24 100 66 34 0 .660 6 4 3 0 0 0
Andy Reid KC 1999-24 455 293 161 1 .645 26 19 14 5 3 3
Sean McDermott BUF 2017-24 136 87 49 0 .640 8 6 4 0 0 0
Mike Tomlin PIT 2007-24 303 189 112 2 .627 18 11 7 2 1 1
Kevin O'Connell MIN 2022-24 45 28 17 0 .622 3 1 1 0 0 0
John Harbaugh BAL 2008-24 292 179 113 0 .613 17 11 5 1 1 1
Sean Payton DEN 2006-11,13-21,23-24 286 175 111 0 .612 17 9 7 1 1 1
Sean McVay LA 2017-24 136 82 54 0 .603 8 5 3 2 1 1
Mike McCarthy DAL 2006-18,20-24 302 181 119 2 .603 18 12 8 1 1 1
DeMeco Ryans HOU 2023-24 29 17 12 0 .586 2 1 1 0 0 0
Kyle Shanahan SF 2017-24 137 77 60 0 .562 8 4 3 2 0 0
Dan Campbell DET 2015,21-24 76 40 35 1 .533 5 1 1 0 0 0
Dan Quinn WAS 2015-20,24 101 53 48 0 .525 7 2 1 1 0 0
Mike McDaniel MIA 2022-24 46 24 22 0 .522 3 2 0 0 0 0
Doug Pederson JAX 2016-20,22-24 133 67 65 1 .508 8 4 3 1 1 1
Kevin Stefanski CLE 2020-24 80 40 40 0 .500 5 2 0 0 0 0
Shane Steichen IND 2023-24 28 14 14 0 .500 2 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Macdonald SEA 2024 10 5 5 0 .500 1 0 0 0 0 0
Zac Taylor CIN 2019-24 100 46 53 1 .465 6 2 2 1 0 0
Todd Bowles TB 2011,15-18,22-24 114 48 66 0 .421 8 2 2 0 0 0
Brian Daboll NYG 2022-24 46 18 27 1 .402 3 1 0 0 0 0
Raheem Morris ATL 2009-11,20,24 70 27 43 0 .386 5 0 0 0 0 0
Jonathan Gannon ARI 2023-24 27 10 17 0 .370 2 0 0 0 0 0
Antonio Pierce LV 2023-24 19 7 12 0 .368 2 0 0 0 0 0
Robert Saleh NYJ 2021-24 56 20 36 0 .357 4 0 0 0 0 0
Dennis Allen NO 2012-14,22-24 79 26 53 0 .329 6 0 0 0 0 0
Matt Eberflus CHI 2022-24 44 14 30 0 .318 3 0 0 0 0 0
Dave Canales CAR 2024 10 3 7 0 .300 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jerod Mayo NE 2024 11 3 8 0 .273 1 0 0 0 0 0
Brian Callahan TEN 2024 10 2 8 0 .200 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jeff Ulbrich NYJ 2024 6 1 5 0 .167 1 0 0 0 0 0
KEY: Yrs = Seasons as head coach, Post = Number of postseason appearances as head coach, Gms = Games Coached, W = Games Won, L = Games Lost, T = Games Tied, Pct = Winning Percentage, DIV = Division Championships, CON = Conference Championships, LG = League Championships, SB = Super Bowl Championships

Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh are aided by previous years/teams coaching, but you cannot argue with their overall winning percentages.
McDaniel, Daboll, Eberflus are the three remaining that were hired in 2022, with Raheem Morris, Doug Pederson, Todd Bowles and Dennis Allen re-hired in 2022.

What does this tell me? How much respect I have for the body of work of Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, and yes, even Matt LaFluer.

[pattersaur]

I like KOC.  That said, I don’t think he’s perfect or anything.  I think he’s focused a lot on his passing game, kind of ignored the running game, kind of ignored the defense, kind of ignored other passing concepts.

This year, I think he’s improved at the running game.
With BFlo, he doesn’t really need to pay attention to defense, but if BFlo moves on, will we be able to continue our defensive success?  A great HC will continue having success on both sides even as their coaches get poached.
I think our offense could really become more multiple in the passing game, so that when a defense is taking something away, we have more tools to attack them with, rather than hoping that the players can execute better.

I also think, it’s a bit of a TBD on whether he’s a QB whisperer.  It seems that up until now, we haven’t really seen any QB be the master of his scheme.  We’ve seen goodish QB performances, but I don’t think our offense has really operated at the peak level our talent is capable of.  Our offense has the talent to be a dominant offense, but I think we’ve been hovering in the pretty good range his whole time.

I agree with everything you posted but will add, KO consistently getting goodish performances from QBs not known for being very good, is impressive.

Being able to elevate lower tier guys to the middle is different than getting a guy to an elite level, but KO hasn't had the opportunity to do the latter yet. In KO's Vikings tenure, Kirk's probably the only guy with the tools to possibly be elite, but he was a mostly finished product way before KO got paired with him. I'm excited to see what he and McCarthy can do next year!

[MAD GAINZ]

I'm surprised there are still doubters among our fanbase. I get wanting to see some playoff success, but it's just a matter of time. If Kirk didn't blow his Achilles mid-season, we're probably a 10-11 win team last year and on pace to have 3 straight seasons in the playoffs.

He's got Sam Darnold playing like a top 12 QB. Even Kirk Cousins whose career record was around .500... KOC was 17-8 with Cousins as his QB. Dude knows how to coach his teams to win.

We struck gold in that HC class. Can't wait to lock him up long term and see what he does with J.J. McCarthy next year and into the future.

BOOM