The Jets may already be thinking beyond Aaron Glenn, and one name that has surfaced in that conversation is Kevin O’Connell.
NFL insider Benjamin Allbright, who can admittedly be hit or miss with coaching news, believes Darren Mougey may consider a trade to reunite with O’Connell, his college teammate, and bring him to New York in green and white. It’s a move that would be unusual, but not impossible, if the Jets decide they want to get ahead of the market for a head coach.
O’Connell’s profile is a tricky one to sort through. He has gone 49-26 in parts of five seasons with the Vikings, made the playoffs twice, and finished below .500 only once. He also comes with the kind of offensive background teams usually chase, having worked as the Rams’ offensive coordinator under Sean McVay.
But the shine has dulled some. The Vikings are 6-1, yet much of the praise has gone to defensive coordinator Brian Flores. That has raised the question of how much of Minnesota’s success is really tied to O’Connell, especially after some shaky calls in the Sam Darnold/JJ McCarthy debate and what the source describes as the worst football of Kyler Murray’s career.
That’s where the Jets’ interest gets complicated. O’Connell would offer a steadier hand than New York has had in the worst way, and a 7-10 season would count as one of the better Jets years of the last decade.
But he would not be bringing Flores with him, and that matters. The source argues Flores may be as important to Minnesota’s success as O’Connell himself.
There’s also the question of whether O’Connell can actually maximize what he’d inherit in New York. The Vikings have Justin Jefferson, a solid offensive line, and an experienced former Pro Bowl quarterback.
The Jets, the source notes, should theoretically be on similar footing offensively. Yet O’Connell hasn’t always made the most of that setup in Minnesota, which leaves open the question of why the results would suddenly change with a different jersey.
Trading picks for a coach is rare, but not unheard of. Sean Payton’s arrival in Denver is the example that suggests it can work.
Still, the comparison only goes so far. Payton may end up with a gold jacket one day, while O’Connell, as the source frames it, may be leaning heavily on Brian Flores being one of the best defensive coordinators in the league.
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