Q&A: Ex-NFL MVP Joe Theismann on soon-to-be Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell

From 2017-2019, soon-to-be Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell was an assistant coach with Washington. During his time in D.C., he got to know Washington football legend and former NFL MVP Joe Theismann.

Theismann, via Zoom, spoke with our Darren ‘Doogie’ Wolfson about the Vikings’ decision to soon officially hire O’Connell.

***Click the video box above to watch our conversation with Theismann***

Now the 36-year-old O’Connell is on track to become the 10th head coach in the 62-season history of the Vikings, who have yet to win a Super Bowl despite ranking seventh in all-time winning percentage among the NFL’s active 32 clubs. The Vikings are the only team among the top 15 in winning percentage without a championship.

By hiring Adofo-Mensah, the Vikings took their front office in a vastly different direction with a former Wall Street trader with economics degrees from Princeton and Stanford to replace Spielman, the scout’s scout whose whole life has been in the game.

That makes O’Connell more of an obvious fit than Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh. Vikings owners Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf have long admired the model of family-run stability by franchises like the Pittsburgh Steelers, who hired Mike Tomlin as head coach in 2007 — after one year as defensive coordinator of the Vikings — and have kept him ever since.

The Associated Press contributed to this report