Did we just dodge a bullet with Harbaugh?

My thoughts exactly!

The more heard about Harbaugh the more I thought “this isn’t the guy that the Wilfs were describing” when they told us what they wanted to put together.  Harbaugh is a short term fix as you pointed out.

I think the Wilfs are trying to put together a top quality organization of very talented people all working as a team.  Not a one man coach that serves one term, gets the organization back on track and the. moves on.  As one blogger pointed out Harbaugh did this for Michigan and then was ready to move on to what he wanted to do next.

I like the way the ship is headed.

Using your wife/girlfriend anallogy.  Put Harbaugh on the hot crazy scale and I’ll take mega hot and mega crazy because coaches don’t have shelf lives anymore. Burn hot, burn bright. Get me a superbowl. Then he can leave or stay or do whatever he wants. 

This will also make O'Connell the fourth current NFL head coach stemming from the coaching tree of the Rams' Sean McVay: O'Connell, the Bengals' Zac Taylor, the Chargers' Brandon Staley, the Packers' Matt LaFleur.

That's a pretty solid track record.

One other thing occurred to me, was how the Rams adjusted to a new QB and the loss of Bobby Trees. They were still able to maximize Kupp. How much credit belongs to KOC is hard to determine, but he was definitely a voice in the room.

Not gonna lie, my initial reaction to Harbaugh was skepticism, followed by acceptance, followed by "" HOLY SHIT, HE'S GONNA TAKE US TO THE SUPER BOWL!"

But, from what I've read, O'Connell seemed to be the clubhouse favorite of many in the organization. Harbaugh came in thinking it was a done deal. Not exactly ego suppression. His track record with his peers and ownership is not what we're looking for.

Dodged a bullet? More like automatic weapon fire via a drive by.

Hard to say and we'll never know. I'll focus on what we have and not what might have been. In fact, it could be that it was never going to happen with Harbaugh if his expectations were he was going to get the job regardless of the interview. Presumptive if true and tone deaf to some extent. Not what the new culture is about and Kwesi did his due diligence with Harbaugh.

Remember also that even with Harbaugh he could not guarantee a SB and if he didn’t get one he likeley ould be gone in 5ree years.

@"StickyBun" said: Hard to say and we'll never know. I'll focus on what we have and not what might have been. In fact, it could be that it was never going to happen with Harbaugh if his expectations were he was going to get the job regardless of the interview. Presumptive if true and tone deaf to some extent. Not what the new culture is about and Kwesi did his due diligence with Harbaugh.

If Viking fans can't focus on "what might have been"......????????
Oh geez another 10 years of therapy down the toilet.   

If KOC does well and dare I say it takes us to the promised land then yep great hire and the Wilfs/KAM are geniuses. If he's gone in 3-4 years then nope, brutal decision. Really as simple as that.
The shock of getting left at the altar by Poles and then not closing the deal with Harbaugh is still fresh but give me the unknown of O'Connell over another year of Zim any day of the week so it's still a reason to be excited.
Rest of the offseason should be a lot more tranquil and pleasant for me... until the Kirk extension news hits :s.

@"pattersaur" said:

If KOC does well and dare I say it takes us to the promised land then yep great hire and the Wilfs/KAM are geniuses. If he's gone in 3-4 years then nope, brutal decision. Really as simple as that. The shock of getting left at the altar by Poles and then not closing the deal with Harbaugh is still fresh but give me the unknown of O'Connell over another year of Zim any day of the week so it's still a reason to be excited. Rest of the offseason should be a lot more tranquil and pleasant for me... until the Kirk extension news hits :s.

Why were we left at the altar by Poles?

...eh...

...maybe it's because the now-previous coach had declined so sharply, but I honestly was fine with any of the "finalists".

Harbaugh is old enough that I was worried about him being a short-term situation, if I'm honest...but, in terms of communication, he deals with young athletes all the time as a college coach and has had success in the NFL, so I wasn't against his hiring.

As for Poles, Chicago has some market advantages, and some historical things...but, I'd honestly be terrified to move my family there and consider it to be one of the worst cities on Earth.  I think he made a tragic error.

@"JustinTime18™" said:

@"pattersaur" said:

If KOC does well and dare I say it takes us to the promised land then yep great hire and the Wilfs/KAM are geniuses. If he's gone in 3-4 years then nope, brutal decision. Really as simple as that. The shock of getting left at the altar by Poles and then not closing the deal with Harbaugh is still fresh but give me the unknown of O'Connell over another year of Zim any day of the week so it's still a reason to be excited. Rest of the offseason should be a lot more tranquil and pleasant for me... until the Kirk extension news hits :s.

Why were we left at the altar by Poles?

@"pattersaur" said:

@"JustinTime18™" said:

@"pattersaur" said:

If KOC does well and dare I say it takes us to the promised land then yep great hire and the Wilfs/KAM are geniuses. If he's gone in 3-4 years then nope, brutal decision. Really as simple as that. The shock of getting left at the altar by Poles and then not closing the deal with Harbaugh is still fresh but give me the unknown of O'Connell over another year of Zim any day of the week so it's still a reason to be excited. Rest of the offseason should be a lot more tranquil and pleasant for me... until the Kirk extension news hits :s.

Why were we left at the altar by Poles?

Were we not? I thought we had an interview still scheduled with him when he took the Bears job instead? I guess that doesn't necessarily mean we would have picked him though.

@"pattersaur" said:

@"JustinTime18™" said:

@"pattersaur" said:

If KOC does well and dare I say it takes us to the promised land then yep great hire and the Wilfs/KAM are geniuses. If he's gone in 3-4 years then nope, brutal decision. Really as simple as that. The shock of getting left at the altar by Poles and then not closing the deal with Harbaugh is still fresh but give me the unknown of O'Connell over another year of Zim any day of the week so it's still a reason to be excited. Rest of the offseason should be a lot more tranquil and pleasant for me... until the Kirk extension news hits :s.

Why were we left at the altar by Poles?

Were we not? I thought we had an interview still scheduled with him when he took the Bears job instead? I guess that doesn't necessarily mean we would have picked him though.

@"JustinTime18™" said:

@"pattersaur" said:

If KOC does well and dare I say it takes us to the promised land then yep great hire and the Wilfs/KAM are geniuses. If he's gone in 3-4 years then nope, brutal decision. Really as simple as that. The shock of getting left at the altar by Poles and then not closing the deal with Harbaugh is still fresh but give me the unknown of O'Connell over another year of Zim any day of the week so it's still a reason to be excited. Rest of the offseason should be a lot more tranquil and pleasant for me... until the Kirk extension news hits :s.

Why were we left at the altar by Poles?

The idea of a 10 year contract was enough to turn me off. I am ok with the decision.

We definitely dodged a bullet. If we have Michigan fans on here saying they aren't so sure about him in Minnesota then you really know.

Some of us may not live long enough for the “long term”

selfish? yes, but we have lived through six decades of disappointment.

Harbaugh is an odd guy.  Probably at least as odd as Belichick.  That's ok if you win like Belichick; otherwise, it starts to grate on people really fast. If we're winning, his odd press conferences would be seen as quirky.  If we're losing, they're just bizarre and infuriating.  He belongs at Michigan.  They won't care how odd he is so long as they are respectable in the Big 10. He's a Michigan man and that matters to them. He will never win a national championship there and Michigan is fine with that. I don't think Harbaugh does relationships well; does not really connect on a human level. That's not really a problem in college since those players will cycle in and out in 4 years.  Not so for the stars in the NFL. 
Kwesi said they were looking for a coach with a vision, a great communicator, and one who is great at collaboration.  I'll grant you that Harbaugh has a vision for his team.  But he does not communicate well and does not collaborate well.  1 out of 3?

IMO - Yes, we dodged a bullet

I really did not want the sideshow Harbaugh here at all.  

Next question which should be on our minds is who the OC and DC will be.  Keep adding talent

@"Vanguard83" said: Some of us may not live long enough for the “long term”

selfish? yes, but we have lived through six decades of disappointment.

Why does hiring O'Connell instead of Harbaugh automatically push us into we won't be competitive for years?  I mean McVay took over a Rams team that was consistently mediocre or below average under Jeff Fischer and had them in a Super Bowl within two years with Jared Goff as his QB.  He's now coaching in his 2nd Super Bowl in 5 years as a HC.  LaFleur elevated a Packers team (with Rodgers) that had stalled out under Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson to two NFCCGs and two #1 seeds in the NFC.  Staley took over the Chargers last year and had them on the brink of a playoff berth at 9-8 after going 5-11 and 7-9 the two seasons prior.

I guess I'm not automatically thinking rebuild with O'Connell.  This offense was good enough with an inexperienced OC, Kirk Cousins, and a stubborn HC in Zimmer to win 8 games despite a defense that wasn't good at all.  Now we have a young, innovative offensive HC that should be able to keep the offense at a high level and maybe we can get a fresh set of eyes on defense and get it fixed.  Why so much doom and gloom?