KEVIN O’CONNELL – Page 2 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Scattergun Column Talking Mimosas, Vikes, Gophers & More

Posted on October 26, 2025October 26, 2025 by David Shama

Well, good morning.

I’d like to tell you I am at the downtown Four Seasons having brunch and mulling my upcoming week while on my fourth mimosa. Ha!

Instead, I am sipping an Ice Mountain and contemplating whether to do an all-day fast. After all, there’s no “football feast” with the Vikings laying low this weekend after last Thursday night’s 37-10 loss to the Chargers.

So, without distractions from the Four Seasons buffet or a kickoff approaching with the Purple, I offer another “buffet.” Here’s to a Sunday scattergun of comments to enjoy with your mimosa. …

As the years go by, I’ll never think of Carson Wentz without seeing that expression of agony on his face shown multiple times in Thursday night’s game. His lame left shoulder will become part of the 32-year-old’s legacy which includes quarterbacking North Dakota State to two FCS national championships and the 2017 Eagles to NFC glory when he was an NFL MVP candidate.

It’s controversial why coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t pull Wentz earlier in the game given his pain and suffering.

After seven games who is the Vikings MVP? Place kicker Will Reichard? He has 55 of the team’s 155 total points.

Talented second-year edge rusher Dallas Turner continues to be an enigma. Performance hasn’t matched the hype and that was a poor decision he made Thursday night arriving late to deliver a blow to Charger quarterback Justin Herbert resulting in a personal foul.

The Vikings were 9-1 in one score games last season. Through seven games this year they’re 2-2 in one score games.

Three years ago, there was debate about whether Vikings safety Harrison Smith would be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after retirement. Now, at 36 and with additional playing longevity, his tenure and accomplishments look more Hall of Fame worthy. Could this be his last season? He will have to wait at least five years after retirement to be eligible for the hall.

It’s been true for a long time now, the public’s interest in the Vikings dwarfs the Gopher following. Even if the Gophers made three consecutive appearances in the College Football Playoffs, and the Vikings took up residence in the NFC North cellar all those years, the Purple would still remain a bigger deal in the state.

The last time the Gophers had moved into possible position to become the state’s football darlings was the mid-1980s when Lou Holtz was at the U. In his two seasons he mesmerized the football fandom, and when he left the Gophers were at about 56,000 season tickets. The Vikings were so concerned after one season of Holtz they brought Bud Grant out of retirement to coach the 1985 team.

After the Gophers played their best game of the season at home on October 18 in a win over Nebraska, they were awful in just about every way yesterday in a 41-3 road loss to Iowa. The Gophers, 5-3 on the season, are 0-3 in road games. Best guess here is for a 6-6 finish and low-profile bowl invite.

Grumbling fans can take positive action by contributing, or increasing, money for Name, Image and Likeness via Dinkytown Athletes.

The Gophers are overdue in erecting statues outside Huntington Bank Stadium for their football immortals. A good place to start would be with coach Bernie Bierman who led Minnesota to five national titles and the legendary Bronko Nagurski who was recognized as the greatest college football player of the first half of the 20^th century.

Shame on me for never driving to Grand Forks to watch the Gophers and Fighting Sioux…um Fighting Hawks play hockey.

Feeling good about arranging a Tuesday get together with new Golden Gophers basketball coach Niko Medved, 52, and former coach Jim Dutcher, 92. Dutch’s 1982 team won the Big Ten title.

On that team was Jim Petersen who has made a career of color analysis on Timberwolves TV games. He had a health concern this summer but is well now.

Happy 82^nd birthday this month to former Gophers public address announcer Dick Jonckowski. At the request of Tubby Smith, Dick used to tell the Gopher basketball coach a joke close to tip off.

A Tubby favorite was about Dick dating a homeless woman. How did that go? Great, Dick said. “I can drop her off anywhere.”

Does the NBA’s alleged gambling scandal come as a surprise? It shouldn’t if you acknowledge the lack of accountability and restraint over the years by so many players in their on-court and personal lives.

Timberwolves fans couldn’t ask for more than seeing two of the NBA’s top MVP candidates during the opening week of the home season with the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and the Lakers’ Luka Doncic at Target Center Monday and Wednesday nights respectively.

BTW It was 65 years ago this month the Lakers, having moved from Minneapolis, played their first game in Los Angeles.

Casual baseball fans are more likely to be watching the World Series with the opportunity to follow the game’s “new Babe Ruth.” Pitching or hitting, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani can have everyone shaking their heads in amazement.

Awareness of Japanese born or Japanese American baseball players has greatly increased this millennium. High profile players include Ohtani and Ichiro Suzuki, the first Japanese-born player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Former Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki, a Japanese American, was just named Angels manager. Back in 2008 Don Wakamatsu, hired by the Mariners, became the first MLB manager of Japanese descent.

Local fans will root for St. Paul-born and former Twin Louie Varland coming out of the bullpen for the Blue Jays. He was roughed up by the Dodgers last night in a Jays loss, giving up two hits and two runs in two-thirds of an inning.

It’s easy to anticipate the Twins opening day lineup and starting pitcher (Pablo Lopez or Joe Ryan) next March. But who will be the closer and what will the overall bullpen look like?

All-time favorite Twins clothing: cream colored Twin Cities jersey.

All-time favorite Wild sweater: MPLS. St. Paul 2022 Winter Classic jersey.

Look for an announcement in November of who the Pohlad family is bringing in as minority owners.

Don’t think business and sports leaders aren’t highly anticipating the results of the city council and mayoral elections in Minneapolis next month.

Take it from this keyboard, two of the best sports reporters around are Andy Greder from the Pioneer Press and Michael Russo of The Athletic. Both are worth the money for subscriptions.

Sorry to see the local golf season coming to an end. Was hoping to make a career season high three hole-in-ones.

Ha!

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Harbaugh or KOC? Who Would Have Been Better for Vikings?

Posted on October 21, 2025October 21, 2025 by David Shama

When the 3-3 Vikings play the 4-3 Chargers in Los Angeles on Thursday night Minnesota will compete against a legend who might have been their head coach. Jim Harbaugh, now in his second season leading the Chargers, will face the Vikings for the first time in his return to the NFL after nine seasons at the University of Michigan.

It was February of 2022 when Vikings ownership and new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were seriously considering Harbaugh for the head coach opening after firing Mike Zimmer. In Harbaugh’s first tenure as an NFL head coach, he led the 49ers for four seasons and took his teams to three NFC Championship games. In San Francisco he had an overall record of 49-22-1 and was 5-3 in the postseason including a 2013 Super Bowl loss to his brother John Harbaugh of the Ravens.

Not only did Harbaugh have a flashy resume, but it was clear going into an early February interview in Minnesota that he had a serious interest in the Vikings job. He reportedly told recruits and people back at Michigan that a change for him could be coming.

Harbaugh’s relationship with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel may have been less than ideal. Back in 2021 Manual had cut Harbaugh’s $8 million salary in half after some struggles including Michigan’s disappointing 2-4 record in COVID year 2020.

Sources reported Harbaugh was confident about getting the Vikings job. Not only did he have the impressive resume, but he had worked with Adofo-Mensah with the 49ers. And at age 58 Harbaugh was still young enough to guide the Vikings for a decade or more. For whatever reason that may never be known unless the Wilf family writes a tell-all-book, an offer to coach the Vikings reportedly was never made.

Harbaugh can be an aggressive personality, a stern leader, with a no surrender approach. Maybe the Vikings interviewers found Harbaugh’s demeanor too crusty and unpredictable for their liking. After all, they had just fired Zim who was known for his fiery and old-school temperament.

A former front office executive with NFL teams was asked via text if he had insights about what fell apart. “I don’t know specifics of negotiations with Harbaugh but perhaps they preferred (the) younger (Kevin) O’Connell coming from (the) popular (Mike) Shanahan/(Sean) McVay coaching tree. I think Jim Harbaugh is a great coach. …I’d rather have O’Connell at this stage of their respective careers.”

Now 61, Harbaugh has won everywhere he has been starting with the collegiate San Diego Toreros and going on from there to Stanford. The Cardinal was 1-11 before Harbaugh arrived. In his fourth and final season Stanford finished 12-1 including an Orange Bowl win.

After things didn’t materialize with the Vikings, Harbaugh went back to Michigan for two more seasons including his 15-0 team that won the 2023 national championship after advancing through the College Football Playoffs.

In 2024, his first season with Chargers, there was more Harbaugh magic. He took a team that was 5-12 the previous season and went 11-6 including a spot in the playoffs.

Kevin O’Connell image courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

O’Connell’s pleasant demeanor could get him a job as a friendly neighbor on a TV sitcom. He’s also a terrific quarterback developer, offensive schemer and play caller who is admired by his players for the culture he has created in three-plus seasons with the Vikings.

In his fourth season O’Connell has the highest winning percentage among all head coaches in franchise history, including playoff games. His 37-22 overall record and .627 percentage tops Bud Grant’s overall win percentage (.607) from 1967-83 and 1985. He became the fastest Vikings head coach to record 35 wins, achieving that in the opening game of the season against the Bears.

Despite all the success in four seasons, including twice winning 13 regular-season games or more, the 40-year-old O’Connell has yet to deliver a playoff win. He is 0-2 after the 2022 and 2024 regular seasons. The Vikings are his first head coaching job at any level.

So, who would the Vikings have been better off hitching their coaching future to back in the winter of 2022? If you’re talking about a five-to-eight-year horizon, the logic dictates Harbaugh. He has a vast edge over O’Connell in experience and success. Part of that experience includes judging personnel and evaluating it. You can be assured that while Harbaugh would have had the title of coach with the Vikings, his voice and authority regarding personnel, including drafting, would have been loud and authoritative enough to cut through a heavy San Francisco fog.

Fleck’s Tenure, Culture & Thoughts for Iowa Week

With the recent dismissal of James Franklin at Penn State, the Gophers’ P.J. Fleck, at age 44, is now the second longest tenured head football coach at his Big Ten school. Franklin was in his 12th season; Fleck is in his ninth while Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz is in his 27th.

The Gophers, 5-2, and Iowa, also 5-2, play in Iowa City Saturday before a national TV audience on CBS. The Hawkeyes have been one of the most successful programs in the Big Ten under Ferentz. His way of doing things has not only produced nationally ranked teams and Big Ten titles, but he is the all-time winningest coach in conference history with 209 victories.

When Fleck took the Minnesota job in 2017, he spent the early years talking a lot about culture and was an admirer of Ferentz’s long tenure at Iowa and the benefits of stability to a program. Fleck was asked yesterday about the payoff from cultural sustainability.

When expectations and familiarity are in place it helps significantly to deal with challenges, he said. If coaches and players have been together for a period of time, the coach said, you know how they’re going to respond. “…Cultures are all about connecting people,” he explained. “That’s how I define culture.”

Fleck said dating back to his first season of 2017 he’s had the same defense. The offense, although adjusted over time, is similar, too. “We know what works here, what type of person works here. If (on the other hand) all those roles are constantly changing then you kind of have a hodge podge and it’s really hard to connect all those people (to have success, face adversity and try to get through it).”

Part of that cultural sustainability, too, is athletic director Mark Coyle who was hired in 2016. He hired Fleck. “I have a boss who allows me to be me,” said Fleck who wants his players to be themselves—authentic and accountable.

“We all have to answer to the culture, including me,” said Fleck. “I am no bigger than the culture I create.”

Systems may change and people, too, but not the culture that makes up a formula “where everybody knows what to expect.”

The culture has been successful for Fleck who is the fifth longest tenured coach in Gopher football history. He is fifth in overall wins with a 104 and his seven victories over top 25 nationally ranked teams is a career school coaching record. His 63-41 record and winning percentage of .605 is third best at Minnesota among coaches with at least 45 games.

Iowa is more than a touchdown favorite to win Saturday against a Gophers team that played its best game of the season last Friday night in dominating then No. 25 ranked Nebraska. The Gophers won that game 24-6 but lost to so-so California and 42-3 against No. 1 ranked Ohio State.

The Hawkeyes have a three-point loss to a solid Iowa State team and a five-point loss to No. 2 ranked Indiana. They also have the advantage of playing at home on Saturday in front of perhaps the Big Ten’s most rabid fan base.

Fleck has long regarded Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium as the “hardest” place in the conference to play. The Gophers will do everything possible in practice this week to replicate the chaotic environment they will face Saturday afternoon. That includes music, crowd noise and even derogatory comments like the Kinnick faithful may utter.

“…Football is a game of emotion, and we want our players to play with incredible emotion,” Fleck said. “We just never want you to cross the line to emotional (letting outside things dictate behavior). …”

Fleck is 1-7 against Iowa, with the only win coming two years ago in Kinnick Stadium. A controversial but correct fair catch ruling that went against Iowa helped Minnesota escape with a 12-10 victory. Incensed fans threw objects on the field in the tradition of Hawkeyes patrons dating back to at least the 1930s when whiskey bottles were a favored projectile.

A wit might say that’s cultural sustainability, too.

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Impatience with McCarthy by Fans, Media Wrong Approach

Posted on October 12, 2025October 12, 2025 by David Shama

The status of Vikings second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy is an obsession with fans and some media. Correction: it’s even more fanatical than that.

The questions are ongoing. They could be rattled off at the nearest sports bar or your neighbor’s garage:

When will McCarthy play again?

Will coach Kevin O’Connell make him the starter, or will he stay with veteran Carson Wentz?

Is McCarthy ready to perform this fall at a high level after struggling in the first two games of the season?

Will he fulfill the dreams of fans to become the franchise quarterback for the next decade?

How significant still is the ankle sprain McCarthy suffered in the second game of the season against the Falcons?

Whoa. Slow down.

Folks want all the answers right now about the 22-year-old. Understandable in the win now world of fans and the reactionary approach to the latest circumstances on the field or off.

But take a deep breath.

What the unproven McCarthy does or doesn’t accomplish this season won’t be the final chapter of his NFL life. He could play at a high level in 2025, or mediocre, or bomb out.

However, there will be more chapters in his football story.

To elaborate on that point, look at the history of three quarterbacks who were in O’Connell’s gun sights in the last 10 months. Neither Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones or Aaron Rodgers had sustained immediate success in the NFL.

The Vikings experienced a 14-3 season in 2024, with much of the success because of the career best performance by Darnold who had been a journeyman quarterback. Behind Darnold on the quarterback depth chart late in the season was Jones who had failed in his tenure with the Giants and was released by that club. The Vikings also had offseason interest in Rodgers who long ago was eased into the NFL before he ever became a starter.

Darnold was unsuccessful during six prior seasons with other NFL teams before he joined the Vikings. He resurrected his career in his first and only season with the Vikings. The Sporting News and Professional Football Writers Association of America both named him league Comeback Player of the Year for his 2024 performance that included career highs in several passing categories. Now with the Seahawks, he is among the league’s passing leaders with a rating of 114.8.

O’Connell found Jones an intriguing talent. But Jones decided during the last offseason to accept an offer from the Colts where he won the starter competition from Anthony Richardson. Jones’ time so far in Indy has been head turning for both him and the team. He has an impressive career best rating of 105.1 and the Colts are off to a surprising 4-1 start to the season. He has credited his brief time with the Vikings helping to improve his performance.

Rodgers, 41, has contributed significantly to a 3-1 start by the Steelers. The future Hall of Famer is with his third NFL team now having spent most of his career with the Packers. The Green Bay quarterback development formula is not to rush quarterbacks. Rodgers sat behind Hall of Famer Brett Favre for three seasons before starting. The Packers used the same approach with now starter Jordan Love who watched and learned from Rodgers for three seasons.

Darnold and Rodgers would have commanded sizeable contracts to play for the Vikings. Jones’ deal at a reported $14 million is a lot more than the Vikings are paying McCarthy and Wentz. It’s also less than Darnold would have wanted to stay here, and perhaps comparable to a Rodgers Vikings contract. Not sinking a lot of money into the quarterback payroll has allowed the Vikings to spend more on other positions in the last offseason.

Those assets, including in the offensive line, resulted in high expectations for the team and McCarthy going into the season. But O’Connell and GM Kwesi-Adofo Mensah have gambled they can win now with McCarthy, rather than employing Darnold, Jones or Rodgers.

Regardless of final results this season, no one should issue a verdict that pretends to know whether McCarthy can find success in the NFL. That answer can only come over time and requires waiting with patience.

Baseball Notes

A valued Sports Headliners source, knowledgeable about MLB, believes David Ross is the best choice to succeed Rocco Baldelli as Twins’ manager. Ross managed the Cubs from 2020 to 2023 with a highlight being a Central Division title in 2020.

The source said Ross has a “terrific baseball IQ.” He also said the former big league catcher is skilled at developing young talent.

Ross, who has made it known he wants to manage again, played for legendary manager Joe Maddon with the Cubs and has worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN. The 48-year-old’s media experience would be an extra bonus to his hire by the Twins.

It’s suggested that the Twins hire a manager and assemble a staff with proven skills in helping players achieve and maintain success. Find teachers who excel at knowing fundamentals, communication, and motivation. This approach makes sense because the Twins have intriguing prospects, are in a rebuild, and have a history of seeing young talent flame out.

The source mentioned above endorsed the firing of Baldelli, believing the skipper had “lost control” of the pitching staff. His view is the starters thought Baldelli didn’t have confidence in them.

The source is also not an admirer of Derek Falvey being president of both the Twins business and baseball operations. “It’s too hard,” he said about trying to do both jobs.

Here’s a list of recent Twins alumni now playing for teams who qualified for the 2025 postseason: Toronto: Louie Varland; Seattle: Mitch Garver and Jorge Polanco; Philadelphia: Jhoan Duran, Max Kepler and Harrison Bader; Los Angeles Dodgers: Ben Rortvedt; Chicago Cubs: Caleb Thielbar; San Diego: Luis Arraez.

Minneapolis-based attorney and local sports historian Marshall Tanick reminded Twins fans last week that on October 6 it was 60 years prior that Sandy Koufax, the best pitcher in baseball, sat out Game One of the World Series against the Twins because of Yom Kippur. A Brooklyn-born Jew, the Hall of Fame lefty was excused by the Dodgers in observance of the Jewish Day of Atonement in 1965. Don Drysdale started instead, with the Twins winning the game 8-2.

Koufax started Game Two but was the losing pitcher in another Twins win. The Dodgers, though, went on to win the World Series in seven games, with Koufax shutting out Minnesota in the finale. See Tanick’s article in the Minneapolis Times, https://minneapolistimes.com/60-years-ago-baseballs-sandy-koufax-made-history-here/

Isaac Asuma, the sophomore from Cherry, Minnesota who figures to be a key contributor to the Golden Gophers basketball team this season, told Sports Headliners his brother Noah is steadfast in his commitment to play baseball at the U. A future shortstop, the Cherry High School senior has drawn interest from pro scouts.

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