The Vikings had Jim Harbaugh in the building for a January 2022 head coaching interview, and at the time, plenty of people around the team thought he was the obvious choice. He was still running Michigan then, and the appeal was clear: a proven winner, a big name, and a coach with a track record that made Minnesota’s eventual decision feel, at least initially, hard to read.
Instead, the Vikings went with former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. At the time, that move looked like a gamble. Now, it looks a lot smarter.
Harbaugh landed with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024, and there was a belief when that hire happened that Minnesota might end up regretting passing on him. That hasn’t been the case. While the Vikings were on bye Sunday, the Chargers fell to 0-6 this season after a 22-6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
That loss pushed Los Angeles into a rougher stretch that now includes nine straight defeats dating back to the 2025 season, playoffs included. Over Harbaugh’s last 17 meaningful games with the Chargers, the team is 7-10. That run includes one playoff game, but not the 2025 regular-season finale, when the Chargers sat Justin Herbert because their postseason seeding was already set.
Herbert started all 17 of those games, giving Harbaugh the kind of quarterback situation most coaches would want. Herbert, a two-time Pro Bowler, was in the lineup every time.
Minnesota’s side of the comparison tells a much better story. In the Vikings’ last 17 meaningful games, O’Connell’s team has gone 11-6, with J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, Max Brosmer, and Kyler Murray each starting at least once.
Since Harbaugh arrived in Los Angeles in 2024, the Chargers are 22-20 in the regular season and playoffs. The Vikings, under O’Connell over that same span, are 28-12.
That’s a long way from how things felt in 2022, when Harbaugh looked like the safe, obvious play. He had already built a strong coaching résumé, including leading the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012.
But with O’Connell now in the middle of his fifth season in Minnesota, the Vikings have every reason to feel good about the call they made.
In Other News...
J.J. McCarthy Just Reopened A Vikings Debate Fans Dread
A late change at quarterback turned into another reminder that J.J. McCarthy still has a way of forcing Minnesota to look back at one of its most uncomfortable recent decisions. After taking over for the Giants in the fourth quarter against the Saints, he helped fuel a rally that had the game flirting with a comeback before New York finally ran out of time. For Vikings fans, it was the kind of performance that lands with extra weight because it keeps the old trade debate alive in a way they probably hoped would fade.
McCarthys line was uneven, but the bigger issue for Minnesota is how a brief burst of competence can reopen questions about what he might have become in purple. The Giants did not finish the job, and his last throw on fourth-and-1 fell incomplete, but the fact that he could step in and make the game interesting again is enough to give that familiar conversation fresh oxygen. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Fans May Not Love Whos Back In Trade Rumors
The Vikings are once again in the middle of deadline chatter, with Alec Lewis of The Athletic reporting that general manager Nolan Teasley is open to exploring a range of trade possibilities. The need list is broad enough to make sense: tight end, running back, interior offensive line, defensive line and safety have all been mentioned, a reflection of both injuries and the kind of depth issues that tend to show up once the season starts grinding into its middle stretch.
A few of the names being floated would certainly get attention around the league, even if some of those ideas are more realistic than others because of scheme fit and the cost to pry them loose. Minnesotas search is not just about adding bodies, it is about finding the right kind of help, and with the deadline approaching, the next move may depend on how aggressive the front office wants to be in a market that does not always make easy sense. [Read more 🡒]
Kyler Murrays Early Concussion Puts One Vikings Habit Under Fire
Kyler Murrays early concussion is already a talking point around Minnesota, not just because it briefly knocked the Vikings starting quarterback out of action, but because of how it happened. Murray has since returned to practice and gotten back on the field after clearing protocol, but the hit has sharpened attention on a habit quarterbacks have long treated as routine protection.
That discussion picked up on ESPNs Sunday NFL Countdown, where Alex Smith made the case that quarterbacks should stop sliding feet-first and instead get down by falling forward to lessen the risk of injury. Tedy Bruschi backed up the broader idea by explaining how defenders react differently when a quarterback is in a slide, a reminder that one split-second choice can change how exposed a passer is when the pocket breaks down. [Read more 🡒]