Newly-hired Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell knew exactly the situation he was walking into when he interviewed for the job.
Yes, the Vikings have missed the playoffs for the last two consecutive seasons, but considering the talent on their roster and their inability to close out games, they have clearly underachieved as an organization.
When asked if he believed if the team was far away from achieving the ultimate goal, which is competing for and winning a Super Bowl, O’Connell appeared direct and confident in his answer.
“I don’t. I really don’t,” O’Connell said at his introductory press conference on Thursday, via FOX 9. “We’ve talked a lot about that. That’s one of the things you look for when you get these opportunities is where is this current team at and, obviously, what type of plans we can put in place to go accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish. I think there’s a lot of reasons on both sides of the ball that make me really excited about implementing the systems and processes that we’re going to implement—that these guys can then take and run with as players.”
The Vikings clearly have a lot of work to do with pending free agents and a bunch of bloated contracts that need to be taken care of as soon as possible.
But there’s no denying the elite talent on both sides of the ball as capable building blocks to potentially achieve something special in Minnesota. As with anything, it’s going to be a process, and it’s going to take a lot of work.
Only time will tell if O’Connell can put his words to action.
