Kevin O’Connel
While the NFL is abuzz with the pro days of the top quarterback prospects for the 2024 draft, the Minnesota Vikings have chosen a different path, with head coach Kevin O’Connell notably absent from these events.
O’Connell addressed this absence at the NFL owners’ meetings, advising local media not to read too much into it. The Vikings are focusing instead on private meetings with their top draft prospects.
While many NFL head coaches were busy attending Jayden Daniels’, Drake Maye’s, and Michael Penix’s pro days this week, O’Connell revealed that he would be spending several days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to get to know Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, whose pro day was last week.
“I’m looking forward to spending some time with him over the next few days and getting to know him,” O’Connell told KFAN host Paul Allen on March 26.
O’Connell emphasized that this approach extends beyond McCarthy, with the Vikings aiming to assess not only the players’ on-field abilities but also their off-field qualities.
“I want to be forming relationships with these guys and really starting to envision what it’s going to look like to be around each other every single day trying to build up our organization,” O’Connell explained at the owners’ meetings, as reported by Pioneer Press reporter Dan Mizutani.
“That’s the excitement of something like this, and I want them to feel that from me. I want them to feel like whether they end up being a Minnesota Viking or not, I want them all to look at it and say, ‘Man, I’d love to play for that guy. That would be a great opportunity.’ You earn that by what we do throughout the process.”
