(5 hours ago)MaroonBells Wrote: Love to keep him, but he's likely going to get a Baker-like offer. The team who makes that offer is probably going to have some concern about whether Sam can do the same thing in another offense. This is why some of us have wondered if his new team might try to steal Wes Phillips (or McNown) from our coaching staff to give Darnold some continuity. That would make some sense.
Agreed, he doesnt go in the shitter with bad decisions? He will get Baker type $$$ - probably a bit tilted to incentive laden.
I really want to keep McNown around for JJM...More so then Wes if we had to choose between the 2.
I'll tell you a secret thats no longer a secret. The least talked about guy on the O staff who KOC loves (Grant Udinski). He's been super valuable for JJM's rook season in re-hab.
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Meet Grant Udinski, the most interesting man on the Vikings coaching staff
Officially, the 28-year-old is assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach. Unofficially, he’s mentor to J.J. McCarthy, protégé of Kevin O’Connell and the most likely to go off the grid in the mountains somewhere.
The man who’s become one of the Vikings’ most important coaches is, quite often, the man who can’t be found.
Grant Udinski is on some faraway practice field, doing extra work with a quarterback, when Kevin O’Connell gestures over reporters’ shoulders to point him out in a news conference. Long after players and coaches had left on Fridays last November, Udinski stayed on the Vikings’ indoor field, for cram sessions with Jaren Hall and Joshua Dobbs that sometimes lasted six hours.
To J.J. McCarthy’s frequent 11:30 p.m. questions about the Vikings offense this spring, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips simply responded, “Text Grant.” Udinski added McCarthy to the small group of people whose texts break through the do-not-disturb settings on his phone.
O’Connell gets the same priority, two years after Udinski, then the coach’s personal assistant, forgot to give him the dates for a Rocky Mountain hiking trip and a question from O’Connell was lost in spotty cell service, leading to dozens of texts and voicemails making sure he was OK.
”When I say he’s all football, all the time, I mean it — if he’s not hiking a mountain in Colorado,” O’Connell said. “And he’s not staying in the most luxurious accommodations. He’s sleeping on the side of a mountain somewhere. I mean, if we could ever do a day in the life of him when he’s not doing football, it would be much more exciting than when he is.”
Since hiring Udinski in 2022, O’Connell has promoted him twice. This year, the 28-year-old’s official title is “assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach.” His unofficial roles include: mentor to McCarthy; post-practice pass rusher or receiver for Sam Darnold; advance scout and practice lieutenant for Phillips; complement to QB coach Josh McCown; “Crazy Grant” to O’Connell’s kids; confidant, protégé and occasional comedic target for O’Connell.
Udinski recalls plays with such specificity, McCarthy is convinced he must have a photographic memory. McCown watches Udinski lead a presentation to the team’s quarterbacks and sees a young O’Connell.
“It reminds me a ton of Kevin, when I had him as a quarterbacks coach [in 2015 with the Browns],” said McCown, a former NFL quarterback. “You could tell immediately, with his presence and intellect, he was going to be a really good coach. That’s definitely what I can feel from Grant.”
O’Connell came up with a cadre of fast-tracked coaches under Sean McVay in Los Angeles. He thinks within a few years, Udinski could be an offensive coordinator or even a head coach. “It would not surprise me if he’s on a pretty skyrocketed timeline,” O’Connell said. He jokes with Udinski, “When I’m working for you years from now, please go easy on me, no matter how I treat you right now.”
Source: Startribune
Darnold managed to produce his bounce-back game against a Titans defense that pressured him on 14 of his 37 dropbacks, the second-most times he has been under duress in a game this season.
He ran a season-high eight times, recording a first down three times and a 1-yard touchdown plunge on a fourth. And on the occasions he stayed in the pocket, he completed a season-high six passes while under duress for 127 yards and both of his touchdown passes.
"It speaks to where he's at right now," coach Kevin O'Connell said. "Really proud of the way he played. How he played in those moments was a huge indicator of a guy that had put the work in, and was confident and was just going out there and doing his job, and also overcoming some things around him to go out and make some plays."
Darnold now has 19 touchdown passes this season, tying a career high he set in 2019 in 13 starts with the New York Jets. He is also averaging more passing yards per game (238.7) than he did in any of his previous six NFL seasons.
O'Connell was effusive in publicly supporting Darnold after his three-interception game last week against the Jaguars. Sunday, in a speech to players and coaches after the game, he gave Darnold a game ball. Darnold, O'Connell said, "went to work this week," a reference to an improvement in the decision-making that led to some of his mistakes earlier this month.
"He just keeps grinding away getting better leading our offense," O'Connell added.
Source: ESPN
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