#331: Kevin O'Connell GETS ANGRY in Minnesota Vikings locker-room

The latest video from the Minnesota Vikings organization reveals a different side to their public image. Kevin O'Connell, the head coach, is shown expressing passion and frustration behind closed doors, despite presenting a calm and perfect image in press conferences.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
So apparently things aren't always butterflies and rainbows inside the
Minnesota Vikings Organization behind closed doors Quezy Adolfo Mensa, Kevin
O'Connell that love to paint this picture of being calm,
of being perfect, of not stressing, but this latest video

(00:26):
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(01:10):
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get great beef in your freezers. Okay, so back to
the discussion that I presented, and I'm gonna go no
further than to share this video.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
We're rolling two. We've lost Black by nine voice, and
we've lost the turnover battle seven to one. When we
talk about it's all about the fall, it's got a
fucking me up to you, everything inside you that's just
purely holding the organization in your hands and not care enough.
We've got the leadership in this room to fix it.

(01:51):
We're gonna get this ship right and we're gonna start
rolling like a freight train.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
You guys with me, yes, sir? So? This latest video
comes from the Netflix series Wide Receiver or Receiver. Last
year it was a quarterback series which featured Kirk Cousins
and lots of other quarterbacks, and this year it's a
receiver series featuring Justin Jefferson. And this is Kevin O'Connell.

(02:16):
After the Minnesota Vikings started zero and two, they lost
to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles,
and not only did they lose those games, but they
lost the turnover battle seven to one, and the Minnesota
Vikings could not stop fumbling the football, if you remember that.

(02:37):
And I remember coming on and reacting to those moments
by the Minnesota Vikings, and I think I said something
along the lines of, what are the coaches supposed to do.
You know, a lot of people are blaming Kevin O'Connell
and the Minnesota Vikings organization for you know, not taking

(02:58):
care of the football. And it's like, okay, you give
a player of the football, you hand the ball off
to him, you throw the ball to him. What are
the coaches supposed to say other than hang on to
the freaking football. Anyways, So Kevin O'Connell has passion, passion,

(03:21):
he's got passion, and you know, he goes to the
press conference and he says, you know, we're gonna figure
it out. We're gonna be calm, we're gonna we're gonna
work at it. But behind closed doors, the Minnesota Vikings
brass is completely different. They like to put together this
picture of being perfect at the podium. They like to

(03:41):
put together this uh, this, this this stereotype of always
being calm underneath the pressure. But we see more than
once Kevin O'Connell lighting a fire underneath the team's buttoner
individual's butt after a bad call on the sidelines, where
he's letting off f bombs after f bombs, And it's

(04:02):
not always what it seems to be. And of course
it's going to be this way the Minnesota Vikings when
they enter the podium at a press conference, never believe
a single thing that they say, especially Quesia Dolfo Mensa
and Kevin O'Connell. These guys never say anything. These guys

(04:24):
are trained and they never say anything to the media
that should not be said. You ask them about a
player that they're gonna cut, like a Lewis Cene or
an Andrew Booth junior, and they're going to praise their
butts at the podium, say, you know what, they're working hard,
they're digesting the playbook, they're trying to make the team.
They're they're they're, they're they're immensely talented. Uh, they're they're

(04:48):
they're they're working harder than anybody on the team to
make this team and cement themselves as a rotational player
in the NFL. And then a week later they're gonna
cut them. That's just what happens. That's just the picture
that the Minnesota Vikings brass paints at press conferences and podiums.

(05:10):
It's all complete garbage, which is a good thing. You
do not want coaches and general managers going to the
podium and disclosing everything to the media. Because one it
pisss off the players. Two other teams are watching these
press conferences to try to get a feel for what's

(05:30):
happening inside your organization. So it's a good thing, it's
a boring thing. It makes you a yawn over and
over again. And it's not true ninety five percent of
the things that they say. I think the only thing
that they've said that was accurate was things about Justin Jefferson.

(05:51):
You know, Kirk Cousins, We intend to bring him back. Okay, yeah, sure.
As soon as they said that, I thought his complete garbage,
complete bull crap. And then they talked about Justin Jefferson,
and then Quezy got a little passionate. His uh pitch

(06:12):
went up a little bit because he cares a lot
about having Justin Jefferson on his roster. And then a
couple of weeks later they're asked about it again and
Kevin O'Connell was passionate too about bringing back Justin Jefferson.
So that one thing was true about bringing him back,

(06:34):
and I actually believed them. But other things, huh. You
know the guy that hands out game balls after the game,
just parading players around and giving them, you know, eight
footballs giving every single player of football and then he
bashes players for fumbling the football. And what is he

(06:56):
supposed to do? I mean, he's not gonna sit there
and say, guys, that's try to hold out of the
football next time. He's got a light of fire underneath there.
But that's what a good head coach does. A good
head coach knows when to be angry, and a good
head coach knows when to be calm and let the
environment play out a little bit and then blow up

(07:18):
at the team the following day if that's what needs
to happen. So this all but confirms, all but confirms.
So this confirms my take of Kevin O'Connell being a
great head coach for the Minnesota Vikings because we know
he's a great play caller. You know, he has a

(07:40):
play here there where it doesn't work, but who doesn't.
And then he also has that calm presence. But he
also lights a fire underneath the team's butt. So there's
nothing to not like about Kevin O'Connell. Thank you for
watching this episode and remember to contact Tokland Farm at
nine to five to two four nine one one five

(08:01):
four one. Everyone, thank you for making this podcast a
part of your day