Kevin William O'Connell (born May 25, 1985), nicknamed "KOC", is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). O'Connell played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

University, and was selected by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in the third round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. O'Connell later also played for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

before retiring in 2012. O'Connell's NFL coaching career began in 2015; he held various assistant coaching roles on the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, and

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

(where he won

Super Bowl LVI Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams defeated the American Football Conference ...

, as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

, in the 2021-2022 season).

Early years

O'Connell is the son of a former FBI agent. He spent his childhood in

Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...

, where he attended

La Costa Canyon High School La Costa Canyon High School (LCC) is a public high school located in Carlsbad, California. Established in 1996, it is a member of the San Dieguito Union High School District and serves the communities of Encinitas, south Carlsbad, Leucadia, Oliv ...

. At La Costa Canyon, O'Connell lettered in both football and basketball. In football, as a junior, he passed for 980 yards and seven touchdowns. As a senior, he was named his team's Most Valuable Player, and selected to All-League, All-North County, and All-San Diego teams. In basketball, he was a two-year letterman, and a teammate of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

standout

Chase Budinger Chase Andrew Budinger (born May 22, 1988) is an American professional volleyball player and former professional basketball player. He was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 44th overall pick in 2009 NBA draft after playing three years of c ...

. O'Connell graduated from La Costa Canyon in 2003.

Playing career

College

O'Connell graduated from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

in December 2007 with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. At SDSU, where he was a four-year team captain, he started 21 games, the sixth-most among SDSU quarterbacks, and ranked first in school history in career rushing yards and second in career rushing touchdowns among quarterbacks; in 2007 he led the team in rushing yards. Passing, he ranked tenth in yardage, eighth in attempts, and seventh in completions. O'Connell played in both the 2008

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

and the 2008

East-West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

. He was the Kai team quarterback in the 2008 Hula Bowl, where he led the offense and was one of the Kai team's only bright spots. He was 11-of-21 for 147 yards, and completed the pass which resulted in the Kai's only score of the game.

New England Patriots

Kevin O'Connell at Patriots at Raiders 12-14-08

At the 2008

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

, O'Connell ran the 40-yard dash in 4.61 seconds; only

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...

quarterback Josh Johnson had a faster time. The

selected O'Connell with their third pick (94th overall) of the third round of the

. O'Connell rushed for a touchdown in the 2008 preseason against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the fourth quarter, in a game the Patriots eventually lost 19-14. He made his NFL debut on September 21, 2008, in the fourth quarter against the

, throwing his first four career passes and completing three. O'Connell was waived by the Patriots on August 30, 2009, two days after a preseason game in which starting quarterback

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

was injured, and, in the second half, O'Connell threw two

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s and only threw 3 completions on 10 attempts. The Patriots gave no explanation for releasing O'Connell, who was in competition with veteran quarterback

Andrew Walter Andrew Scott Walter (born May 11, 1982) is an American businessman and former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft after playing college football at Arizona State Univers ...

, signed after his release from the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, and undrafted free agent rookie

Brian Hoyer Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for seven different ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Detroit Lions

O'Connell was claimed off waivers by the

on September 1, 2009.

New York Jets

The Lions traded O'Connell to the

, for a 7th round 2011 draft pick, on September 6, 2009. He was named a team captain for the September 20 game against the New England Patriots. On August 31, 2010, New York released O'Connell. Following his departure, O'Connell found that he had a torn labrum in his throwing arm, an injury he sustained during the preseason. The injury required surgery. Following his release, the

re-signed O'Connell to a two-year deal. He had been placed on the injured reserve list. He was later released again on July 29, 2011.

Miami Dolphins

On August 5, 2011, O'Connell signed with the

, but was waived on September 3.

Second stint with the Jets

O'Connell was claimed off waivers by the Jets on September 4, 2011.

San Diego Chargers

O'Connell was signed by the

on July 29, 2012, to serve as an emergency back-up in the Chargers' practices with

Charlie Whitehurst Charles David Whitehurst Jr. (born August 6, 1982), is a former American football quarterback who played college football at Clemson Tigers football, Clemson, and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round (81st overall) of the 2006 ...

suffering an injury and

Kyle Boller Kyle Bryan Boller (born June 17, 1981) is a former American football quarterback. After playing college football for California, he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round (19th overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played for the Rav ...

announcing his retirement from the league. He was released on August 12, 2012.

NFL statistics

Coaching career

Cleveland Browns

On February 17, 2015, it was announced that O'Connell was named to the position of quarterbacks coach of the

for the 2015 NFL season.

San Francisco 49ers

O'Connell was hired to the offensive staff of the

on February 26, 2016.

Washington Redskins

On January 20, 2017, O'Connell was hired as the

' quarterbacks coach, working under head coach

Jay Gruden Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the Washington ...

. In 2019, under head coach Bill Callahan, O'Connell was promoted to offensive coordinator. After the 2019-2020 regular season, O'Connell was not retained by the incoming new head coach,

Ron Rivera Ronald Eugene Rivera (born January 7, 1962), nicknamed "Riverboat Ron", is an American football head coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He attended the University of California, Berkeley in the early 1980 ...

Los Angeles Rams

On January 16, 2020, O'Connell was hired by the

as offensive coordinator. In O'Connell's second season with the Rams, their offense ranked 2nd best in receiving touchdowns (41), 5th highest in total yards (4,893), 8th best in total touchdowns (63), and the team won

(defeating the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, 23-20).

Minnesota Vikings

On February 16, 2022, just three days after his Super Bowl LVI victory, O'Connell was hired by the Minnesota Vikings as the 10th head coach in their franchise history. O'Connell's Vikings hiring reunited him with quarterback

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the team then known as the Washingto ...

, whom O'Connell had coached in 2017 (Cousins' final year with the Washington Redskins). O'Connell won his first game as head coach against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 of the 2022 season by a score of 23-7.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Kevin 1985 births Living people American football quarterbacks Cleveland Browns coaches Detroit Lions players Los Angeles Rams coaches Miami Dolphins players Minnesota Vikings head coaches National Football League offensive coordinators New England Patriots players New York Jets players Players of American football from California Players of American football from Knoxville, Tennessee San Diego State Aztecs football players San Francisco 49ers coaches Sportspeople from Carlsbad, California Sportspeople from Knoxville, Tennessee Washington Redskins coaches