Best Coaching Staff..your Minnesota Vikings.

[badgervike]

ESPN ranks best coaching staffs.  Who's number 1?  The Minnesota Vikings

1. Minnesota Vikings
Head coach: Kevin O'Connell
Offensive coordinator: Wes Phillips
Defensive coordinator: Brian Flores
2024 ranking: 10

When I ranked the Vikings in this exercise last season, I sang the praises of Flores, the defensive coordinator who had done the most with the least in 2023. But I wondered if O'Connell, another branch off the Shanahan-McVay tree, could innovate and evolve beyond the tried-and-true system he had run with Kirk Cousins to that point. What could he offer a younger quarterback in need of development?

The answer: a whole lot! Not necessarily to the quarterback we expected, as Sam Darnold started the entire season in J.J. McCarthy's absence -- but what a season it was. O'Connell's mastery is in opening intermediate and downfield passing windows. Darnold had more passing attempts at least 10 yards downfield than any other quarterback, and NFL Next Gen Stats charted those targets with an average separation of 2.7 yards -- fifth highest in the league.

O'Connell has easily leaped into that utmost echelon of offensive designers, and Flores remains the cream of the defensive crop. There are always little things to wonder about -- scheming for a rookie is different from scheming for a veteran, even if that veteran had never been successful elsewhere -- but there is no doubt that O'Connell & Co. elevate players more than any other coaching staff in football.

Entire list:  https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4585...ordinators

[AGRforever]

Reid has won what 3 super bowls recently? Until the big KOC gets one this is just clickbait.

[badgervike]

Reid has won what 3 super bowls recently? Until the big KOC gets one this is just clickbait.

Reid has won 3 Superbowls since 2020...with the best QB in the business.  Think that's the point of the article...who gets the most out of their personnel.   Big difference in personnel going 14-3 with Sam "I see ghosts" Darnold.

[comet52]

I'm excited for football season to begin and bullshit season to mercifully end.

[StickierBuns]

Reid has won what 3 super bowls recently? Until the big KOC gets one this is just clickbait.

Chicken or the egg? QB or the Head Coach? 

---

I'm excited for football season to begin and bullshit season to mercifully end.

Me too. I'm worn out already and the preseason game overreactions haven't even started yet. Oh wait, they have.....its already been determined online that Dan Campbell is garbage and his coordinators did everything after the Hall of Fame garbage game. Sigh.

[badgervike]

Chicken or the egg? QB or the Head Coach? 

---

Me too. I'm worn out already and the preseason game overreactions haven't even started yet. Oh wait, they have.....its already been determined online that Dan Campbell is garbage and his coordinators did everything after the Hall of Fame garbage game. Sigh.

[StickierBuns]

O'Connell is the type to win with his and then take yours and beat you. I'm a big fan. The days are gone when Minnesota gets outcoached. If KOC can hit on JJ, the Vikings will be a force in the NFC for many years.

[badgervike]

O'Connell is the type to win with his and then take yours and beat you. I'm a big fan. The days are gone when Minnesota gets outcoached. If KOC can hit on JJ, the Vikings will be a force in the NFC for many years.

I think the same can be said for Flores.  He's never had the best personnel but has done well with what he has.

---

And how quickly they can fall. 2022 Coach of the Year, Brian Daboll, and his staff finished last in the rankings.

[medaille]

Chicken or the egg? QB or the Head Coach? 

---

Me too. I'm worn out already and the preseason game overreactions haven't even started yet. Oh wait, they have.....its already been determined online that Dan Campbell is garbage and his coordinators did everything after the Hall of Fame garbage game. Sigh.

We will never know.  There is no answer to that.  Elite QBs don’t appear out of the ether.  You have prospects that have the correct physical traits and correct mental makeup.  They then get coached up by coaches, whether they are high school coaches, college coaches, pro coaches which helps mold them into the QBs they become.  Many great prospects go to crap teams and wither on the vine.  Many crap prospects go to good teams and become good.  I think there’s a lot of magic that happens when you combine a great prospect with a great coach.  Brady obviously wasn’t a great prospect, overlooked by his own college team and every NFL team many times.  Mahomes was drafted relatively high in the draft, but still overlooked by like 9 other teams and was the 19th best prospect on the consensus big board.  Belichek hasn't been great without Brady, although his defense has been great.  Brady has only really played with him and Arians who is a good coach.

That said Reid is obviously one of the top coaches with or without Mahomes.  Not really sure how to rank Spagnuolo though.  People rave about him lately but he’s got a lot of middle to bad performances in there as well.

KOC/Flores are definitely in the tier of top coaches, but I think KOC still has room to grow specifically in the scheme department, as I think he’s been really good at his one thing, but hasn’t seemed to really have enough counterpunches when other teams take away his strength.

[MaroonBells]

Good for KOC and BFlo. I can't think of another coaching staff I'd rather have. And that includes Andy Reid. Winning the Super Bowl is about a lot more than coaching. You want a Super Bowl winning coach, go get yourself Jon Gruden, Mike Ditka or Barry Switzer. They're all available.