To my eye, the Minnesota media did a good job of sending questions to Kevin O’Connell in the aftermath of the J.J. McCarthy trade.
Nobody there appeared interested in a knock ’em down, drag ’em out debate (at least based on assessing the tone). Rather, there was some candid questions for the head coach who has said a lot about the passer who got shipped out for a 5th. What do we do with that franchise quarterback public announcement back in 2024? And the quip about NFL franchises failing quarterbacks? How did that one age, O’Connell?
All well and good. Necessary questions that did need to get asked given how things have gone.
What didn’t get asked, though, is how Kevin O’Connell reconciles his recent revelation about playing small ball with the failure of the J.J. McCarthy era. Why wasn’t that the strategy from the beginning? Shouldn’t McCarthy have been allowed to play in that sort of offense all along?
Kevin O’Connell, the JJM Failure, and Playing Small Ball
During the offseason, Coach O’Connell brought up the idea while doing an interview with Mike Florio and Chris Simms of Pro Football Talk.
Check out what the skipper had to say back in March of 2026: “Maybe I don’t get invited to the smart guy table by playing a certain kind of style where we ran the football, we were not going to turn it over, and we’re going to play great defense. And we won five games in a row.” In this moment, O’Connell is speaking to the adjusted approach that allowed the Vikings to go from 4-8 to 9-8.
There was then some mention of this strategic adjustment being something that could help the Vikings to win in the future. Speaking prophetically, O’Connell explained that there could be a need to tame the high-flying passing attack in favor of minimizing turnovers, running the ball, and playing terrific defense.
Kevin O’Connell has since doubled down, earning praise for running the football. His willingness to do so has proven instrumental in the victories in Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3.
Better yet, the head coach has continued to comment on how this renewed, reinvigorated emphasis on an old school approach to football can actually be leaned on by these Minnesota Vikings. What’s odd is that these comments are met with acceptance rather than confusion about what took so long.
Why didn’t he get asked about that philosophical shift in relation to J.J. McCarthy? Don’t those two realities walk hand-in-hand? Maybe McCarthy’s story would be different had the playcalling and broader strategic approach had been different.
Think back to overcoming the Packers in Week 1. Check out the skipper’s moment of self-awareness after the victory: “In some of the adversity, I don’t think I’ve coached very well. Trying to maybe worry about the stat sheet, trying to maybe worry about what it’s going to look like when you pick up the paper. Statistically, are people going to think you’re a good coach? It’s about winning.”
Does the self awareness from the coach tell us anything about J.J. McCarthy?
Now, note the intention here. By no means am I looking to be critical of the Minnesota media. That presser could have gone on for ten or twenty more minutes without there being an issue with topics to discuss. Time constraints only allow for so many questions to come up.
Rather, the point is to highlight that this is indeed a befuddling situation that is playing out.
Kevin O’Connell is well within his rights to prefer passing the football. In fact, he would be foolish not to focus on passing the ball given the manner in which the modern game is played alongside the presence of Justin Jefferson. Put the pigskin in the air, I say.
But then there’s the pendulum effect of swinging too far toward passing. Small ball is a tried-and-true method of winning games that isn’t perfect but still useful; the head coach needs to know when it’s time to lean on the strategy. Would things have been different had the 2025 Vikings leaned on the approach from Week 1?
Moving into the 2025 season, J.J. McCarthy was a 22-year-old sophomore quarterback coming off a serious knee injury. He had just worked through a clunky offseason “competition” that was a long, awkward coronation. He was being tasked with adjusting his mechanics during the season and had a patchwork offensive line in front of him. All of this took place while then navigating three more injuries — ankle, concussion, wrist — while the Vikings fell well short of expectations.
Only as a 4-8 football team did Kevin O’Connell adjust toward prioritizing the run, minimizing turnovers, and featuring the defense as the key facet of how the Vikings were going to win. That’s what he has been saying, at least.
At Michigan, McCarthy won primarily through the ground game and the defense. Minnesota knew that when drafting him. So, what gives?
Alas, the question will remain unanswered. Maybe some clarity will get provided someday, but put me in the camp that sees the failure of the J.J. McCarthy era as primarily being on the head coach who is employed largely due to his expertise as a quarterback and a playcaller.
Next up for the Minnesota Vikings is a Week 4 game against the 0-3 Miami Dolphins.