The Minnesota Vikings’ success is arguably the biggest surprise of the 2024 NFL season, as they have won 11 of their first 13 games and are challenging the Detroit Lions for the NFC North title and No. 1 overall seed down the stretch.
A huge reason for the Vikings’ success is head coach Kevin O’Connell, who has emerged as one of the best up-and-coming coaches in the league. Let’s examine O’Connell’s contract and 2024 salary and how his deal stacks up to other NFL coaches.
Kevin O’Connell’s Salary and Contract
Prior to becoming a coach, O’Connell actually played in the NFL. While playing college football at San Diego State, the quarterback threw for 7,689 yards and 46 touchdowns, both top-five marks in the school’s history.
In the 2008 NFL Draft, O’Connell was drafted No. 94 overall by the New England Patriots. Throughout his NFL career, he had stints with the Detroit Lions, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, and San Diego Chargers, largely spending time on practice squads.
In 2015, he transitioned to coaching and joined the Cleveland Browns as their quarterback coach. In 2016, O’Connell joined the San Francisco 49ers on special projects.
He climbed the ladder and was hired by the Los Angeles Rams as their offensive coordinator in 2020. In his time with the Rams, O’Connell won his first Super Bowl in 2022 and earned more than $2 million annually as the team’s OC.
After helping Los Angeles win the Super Bowl, O’Connell was hired by the Vikings as their head coach. As a first-time head coach, O’Connell inked a deal that is estimated to pay him roughly $5 million annually.
O’Connell’s contract with the Vikings runs through the 2025 season, and he’s reportedly expected to receive a lucrative extension that nearly doubles his salary.
MORE: Is Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell Married?
For reference, the NFL’s highest-paid coaches are Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid ($20 million), Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton ($18 million), Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ($16 million), Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh ($16 million), and Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay ($15 million).
O’Connell’s net worth is estimated to be roughly $5 million as of 2023. While he’s so new to coaching, he did make good money throughout his playing days.
O’Connell has found success during his time with the Vikings as he led the team to a 13–4 record in the 2022 season. The Vikings won the NFC North for the first time since 2017 but were defeated by the New York Giants in the Wild Card Round by a final score of 31–24.
Minnesota currently sits at 11-2 and in second place in the NFC North behind the Lions. O’Connell has emerged as a legitimate candidate for the Coach of the Year award.
The Vikings currently have the NFL’s third-best defense and 10th-best offense in PFN’s Defense+ and Offense+ metrics, and they rank No. 4 in our latest NFL power rankings.
Rams vs. Vikings Game Preview
- Location: Glendale, Arizona; State Farm Field
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Channel: ABC, ESPN, ESPN+
O’Connell is trying to lead the Vikings past the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Cound Round of the NFL playoffs.
The winner of this game will travel to face the No. 2 seeded Philadelphia Eagles, who easily defeated the Green Bay Packers 22-10 in their Wild Card game.
With this being a neutral site game due to the Los Angeles wildfires, the Rams cannot rely on home-field advantage. Away from SoFi Stadium this year, the Rams are 5-3, and they did play once at State Farm Stadium back in Week 2 when they lost to the Arizona Cardinals, 41-10.
The Rams have been playing really great football lately, winning five straight before falling in a meaningless game against the Seattle Seahawks in the season finale, where key players earned much-needed rest.
The Vikings fell from potentially being the No. 1 overall seed to the No. 5 seed when they lost the season finale to the Lions. That game saw Minnesota’s offense stall in the red zone, settling for multiple field goals, as QB Sam Darnold had one of his worst outings of the year.
Pro Football Network’s OFF+ metric sees this as a top-15 matchup, and there could be potential for many points on Monday night. The Rams are ranked No. 11, and the Vikings are No. 13.
Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are elite wide receivers, so counting this team out is irresponsible.
This season, Kyren Williams helped Los Angeles’ offense rank seventh in rushing success rate. The respect Williams demands from opposing defenses has allowed the Rams to rank seventh in third-down avoidance. They constantly operate from ahead of the chains, a common trait of successful offenses.
The passing game hasn’t been the most consistent weekly, leading to a reasonably wide fluctuation in grades. The Rams have four top-five weekly finishes but also four weeks ranking 20th or worse. Still, with Nacua and Kupp healthy, Los Angeles’ upside gives it a fighting chance to win a playoff game for the first time since their Super Bowl 56 victory.
The Vikings have sometimes looked like an elite offensive unit, but several down weeks kept their final ranking outside the top 10. Darnold has affirmatively answered any questions about his ability to lead this team to Super Bowl contention, but Week 18 was a reminder that his floor remains very low.
One of Minnesota’s worst traits this season was the red-zone offense, where they finished 19th in touchdown rate. That reared its ugly head in the division-deciding loss to the Lions, where the Vikings had one success on 14 red-zone plays.
That was the worst red-zone success rate in a game over the last five seasons (min. 10 plays). The passing game finished 10th in success rate, which helped this unit overcome a fairly average rushing game (17th in success rate).
Head coach Kevin O’Connell’s willingness to seek out explosive plays on early downs has helped Darnold avoid difficult situations, as Minnesota avoided third downs at the fifth-highest rate of any offense.
Per Pro Football Network’s Playoff Predictor, with 10,000 simulations, the Rams are an underdog and given just a 43.8% chance of winning against the Vikings.