The Marathon of the Vikings Head Coaching Search is in its Final Mile
It seemed like the finish line was approaching. After weeks of deliberating who will be the successor to Mike Zimmer as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, the front runner appeared to be one khaki-donning Jim Harbaugh. Then as quickly as he appeared, Harbaugh was gone. After a 9+ hour interview period on Wednesday, the two sides could not come to an agreement, and Harbaugh will return to the University of Michigan to coach the Wolverines in 2022. A bit of a double whammy for those that root for both the Gophers and Vikings.
Vikings fandom, especially in the Twitter-verse, had a couple minutes of down-trodden sadness before the latest development could emerge. It appears all signs point towards Rams OC, Kevin O’Connell being named the Vikings head coach following next weekend’s Super Bowl.
O’Connell should be viewed as a terrific hire as he carries each of the three traits that fans desired in the next Minnesota skipper: youth, offensive-mind, creative scheme. O’Connell turns 37 years of age in May. Harbaugh is 58. Additionally, O’Connell is another branch of the Sean McVay coaching tree that has shown great promise in recent years. In fact, McVay goes up against his former disciple, Zach Taylor, in next Sunday’s aforementioned Super Bowl. It’s worth mentioning as well that O’Connell has a history with QB Kirk Cousins. He was The Captain’s QB coach in Washington during the 2017 season. That most certainly should have played a role in the final decision of who would be the next Vikings head coach.
Finally, in regards to Harbaugh not joining the Vikings, this shouldn’t be a massive surprise. The Michigan alumnus just had his most successful season coaching the Wolverines, leading the program to a win over their hated rival Ohio State, a Big 10 title, and a College Football Playoff appearance. It was going to take a massive offer to lure the former 49ers head coach away from that success to a Minnesota Vikings team with a number of questions marks regarding its future. It was a long chance from the beginning, and in the end, Harbaugh to the Vikings didn’t pick up enough steam.