ESPN.com · Jan 13, 2025
Vikings' Kevin O'Connell is quintessential modern NFL coach
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EAGAN, Minn. -- Aaron Jones was prepared for the worst. The Minnesota Vikings running back had just dropped a pitch from quarterback Sam Darnold, resulting in a lost fumble and the kind of jog to the sideline that football players dread.
Coach Kevin O'Connell was waiting. It was the Vikings' fifth first-quarter turnover in 10 games, the most in the NFL at the time, and the issue had been addressed repeatedly in team meetings.
What Jones encountered, however, was O'Connell's secret sauce. He was "stern" but not angry, Jones recalled.
