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Kevin O’Connell’s Leverage for New Contract Rock Solid

Posted on December 9, 2024December 9, 2024 by David Shama

With the 11-2 Vikings experiencing a potentially historic season, it is apparent head coach Kevin O’Connell has substantially increased his leverage for future contract negotiations. His initial deal, agreed to in 2022 when he was named the franchise’s 10^th head coach, ends after the 2025 season and is estimated to pay him about $5 million annually.

Ownership is expected to soon offer O’Connell a new contract, and perhaps has even done so. While the likelihood is considerable the two parties will strike a deal prior to next season, O’Connell’s impressive three seasons in Minnesota are so admired he could choose the ultimate power play of letting his contract expire and allow bidding from other teams.

The admiration among fans, media and NFL people is widespread and can even take an unexpected direction. Recently Kayln Kahler, from ESPN, wrote the dysfunctional Bears franchise, having fired their head coach earlier this fall, should consider a trade for O’Connell. Such a trade, including multiple future first round draft choices, will fall on deaf ears at TCO Performance Center in Eagan.

Ownership and staff have learned O’Connell is the “secret sauce” the Vikings and other NFL teams covet. He is loved in the organization, including the locker room, for the way he carries himself and treats others. He has created an environment and culture that should be the envy of other franchises.

In his first season (2022) the Vikings went a surprising 13-4 during the regular season. They were an amazing 11-4 in one-score wins, an NFL record.

In 2023 the Vikings’ season was derailed by quarterback Kirk Cousins’ Achilles injury and they finished with a 7-10 record. Despite having to navigate through a franchise record four starting quarterbacks, the Vikings ranked fifth in the league in passing yards per game (256.4).

Kevin O’Connell image courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

Predicted to win about six games this season—partly because of uncertainty at quarterback with Cousins leaving as a free agent to play for the Falcons—O’Connell and his staff have stunned the football world with the performance of Sam Darnold. The former journeyman quarterback has been “born again” in Minnesota and will earn a lot more next season than the one-year deal of $10 million the Vikings are paying him, and that has everything to do with their “quarterback whisperer” coach.

O’Connell has been on target in so many ways that have paid off for the team including his selection of assistant coaches. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has “bouquets” thrown his way every week for his creativity and overall work. Quarterbacks coach Josh McCown is in his first season working for O’Connell and has been impressive, too. It’s likely both men will have offers sooner or later to become head coaches.

O’Connell’s overall record (all with the Vikings) is 31-17, including one playoff loss. His winning percentage of .645 is the best in franchise history, surpassing that of legendary Bud Grant (.607) over 18 seasons. O’Connell is 24-9 in one-possession games as a head coach, the third best winning percentage (.727) in NFL history in one-score contests (minimum 25 games).

Not only does O’Connell have a superlative resume, but he also has a potentially long coaching career ahead. He doesn’t turn 40 years old until next year.

Speculation earlier this fall was the Wilf ownership group might offer him $10 million per year, but that appears too far under market value. More than doubling his salary to $12 million to $15 million seems appropriate. Contract length also has him in the “driver’s seat” with seven years or longer a possibility. Clearly ownership wants him to be the man in charge for the foreseeable future.

According to Sportico.com, the 10 highest paid NFL coaches annually are: Andy Reid, $20 million; Sean Payton, $18 million; Jim Harbaugh, $16 million; Mike Tomlin, $16 million; Sean McVay, $15 million; Kyle Shanahan, $14 million; John Harbaugh, $12 million; Dan Campbell, $11 million; Sean McDermott, $11 million; Mike Macdonald, $9 million.

Worth Noting

Darnold made history in yesterday’s 42-21 win over the Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium. He is the ninth quarterback in NFL history and first since Aaron Rodgers in 2019 to have at least 325 passing yards, five touchdown passes, a completion percentage of 75-or-higher and a passer rating of 155-or-higher with no picks in a game.

After the game O’Connell offered his admiration of Cousins including the veteran quarterback’s character. “I love him as a person. I think he’s a great human being, great father, great husband. He stands for so many great things that I always really valued.”

According to Statista.com last June, at $294.17 million Cousins ranks No. 6 in all-time cumulative career earnings among NFL players. Rodgers, $380.66 million, was No. 1 ahead of Matthew Stafford, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan and Cousins.

Former Viking and Minnesota native Adam Thielen, age 34, had nine receptions for 102 yards in the Panthers’ 22-16 loss to the Eagles yesterday. With a total of 8,063 career receiving yards, he is the fourth undrafted player in the common-draft era (dating back to 1967) with at least 8,000 career receiving yards. He joins Antonio Gates (11,841 receiving yards), Rod Smith (11,389) and Wes Welker (9,924).

The veteran wide receiver has 25 career games with at least 100 receiving yards. He joins Smith (30 games) and Welker (28) as the only undrafted players since 1967 with 25 career games with 100 or more receiving yards.

If there is a change in Golden Gophers basketball head coaches after this season, St. Thomas’ John Tauer should be a level one candidate. Tauer, whose Tommies won the 2016 NCAA Division III national title, has his D1 team at No. 113 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Net Rankings. Minnesota is No. 163.

Meanwhile the women Gophers are No. 37 in the women’s rankings under second-year coach Dawn Plitzuweit. Minnesota is off to a 10-1 start and roster building strategy includes awareness of Minnesota and Wisconsin natives playing elsewhere who may want to transfer closer to home.

Jamal Abu-Shamala, the former Golden Gophers basketball player from Shakopee, has the volunteer honor of being Head Coach of the Twin Cities Dunkers in 2025. In that role he will arrange speakers for the organization that started 1948.

The Gophers have a 2025 football season tickets sales campaign going on with prices starting at $310. Public season ticket sales the last two years have been in the 23,000 to 25,000 range.

The Gophers had one year in the 1980s when they reported 56,000 season tickets while playing in the Metrodome.

The talented Gopher men’s hockey is coming off shutout home wins against Michigan Friday and Saturday night. Minnesota goalies Nathan Airey and Liam Souliere, with defensive help, shut out the Wolverines on consecutive nights for the first time in more than 80 years.

“Our D-corps is our strength right now and really I mean they’re elite,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said after his No. 4 ranked team swept the No. 6 Wolverines.

The Gophers, 15-2-1 overall and 8-0 in the Big Ten this season, are 32-10-1 in conference home games since the start of 2021.

The Wild’s fast start to the season includes being tied for the league lead with the Jets and Capitals in total points at 40. The way it looks now, unless the team has an incredible run of injuries sidelining key players, Minnesota can be mediocre the rest of the way and still make the playoffs for the first time since 2023.

Football coach Glen Caruso’s St. Thomas signing class for 2025 includes Beau Thielen from Eagan, a 4.5-star long snapper recruit. He drew interest in the recruitment process from FBS and FCS schools.

Al Worthington, who pitched for the 1955 Junior World Series champion Minneapolis Millers in 1955 and later was a standout for the Twins, will be 96 in February.

He is on the 2025 ballot for the Twins Hall of Fame. Fans can vote for 2025 candidates and/or use a write-in option. https://www.mlb.com/twins/fans/twins-hall-of-fame-ballot

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Fleck: Gophers Will Recruit a Transfer Quarterback for 2025

Posted on December 4, 2024December 5, 2024 by David Shama

Head coach P.J. Fleck went to the transfer portal about a year ago to find his 2024 quarterback. The move paid off with New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer performing superbly in both team leadership and passing with production that included a best ever at Minnesota single season completion percentage of .668.

Brosmer engaged his teammates from the beginning, building relationships and trust. He was also an insatiable learner whose knowledge and maturity gave the Gophers an in-game advantage in problem solving and creating opportunities.

“I’ve never been around a young man who processes information like he processes information,” said Fleck who predicts Brosmer will be an NFL player and later a successful coach if he chooses that career path.

The downside with Brosmer, who figures to be in training camp with an NFL team next year, is that he has used his one season of eligibility. The Minnesota quarterback job is up for grabs in 2025 and Fleck surprised some observers today by saying “we’re absolutely going to bring in a transfer quarterback to compete.”

Fleck said he’s been “transparent” in meetings with quarterbacks on the existing roster, including assumed Brosmer successor Drake Lindsey, and also Jackson Kollock who was one of 20 high school players the Gophers signed today on National Signing Day. Fleck said competition is intended to make everybody better.

A transfer quarterback is likely to have more experience than Lindsey and Kollock who potentially could spend four or more years in the program. But that’s not necessarily a given, and Fleck is certain to prioritize the ability to play at a high level right away is more important than the number of eligible seasons.

Lindsey, an Arkansas native who was the high school Gatorade Player of the Year in that state, is considered a gem from the 2024 recruiting class. The former three-star recruit had the benefit of learning from the cerebral Brosmer this fall. Fleck said the redshirt freshman “has attached himself to Max’s hip.”

Lindsey enrolled early at Minnesota and participated in spring practice where he was impressive. The true freshman played in two games during the 2024 season with the highlight being against Rhode Island when he completed three of four passes and threw a touchdown pass. He has four seasons of eligibility ahead at Minnesota.

Kollock is a high three-star in the 247Sports composite recruiting rankings. The Gophers may have pulled off a coup in getting the Laguna Beach, California quarterback who can not only pass but is more athletic than Lindsey and Brosmer, setting up the possibility of more run-pass options in the Minnesota offense.

Kollock was committed to Washington until after last season’s college football playoffs when head coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb left the Huskies. DeBoer is now head coach at Alabama and Grubb is the NFL Seahawks offensive coordinator. It’s a tribute to Kollock’s talent and potential that those offensive gurus pursued him.

As Lindsey did, Kollock will enroll early to learn about the offense and participate in spring practice.

So, with a transfer likely coming and Lindsey and Kollock available going into next season and beyond, the Gophers look positioned at quarterback—the most important position on the field—to start a talented player who they believe in and with a backup or two that has their confidence.

Gophers Football Notes

The one four-star recruit, per 247Sports composite rankings, is linebacker Emmanuel Karmo from Robbinsdale Cooper. He had an impressive senior season and moved up from three-star to four-star status.

The Gophers signed three of the 247 top five rated high school seniors in Minnesota. The group includes No. 2 ranked Caledonia linebacker Ethan Stendel (comparisons to Gopher Cody Lindenberg) and No. 5 defensive lineman Abu Tarawallie from Heritage Christian Academy.

The expansion of the Big Ten to include four west coast schools, including UCLA and USC, may start a trend of Gopher recruiting out that way. California, with three signees, was second among states in the Gophers’ 20-recuits class. There are six players from the state of Minnesota.

In addition to Kollock, Minnesota signed Daniel Shipp, a three-star offensive lineman from Eastvale, California and three-star wide receiver Legend Lyons from Covina, California.

Shipp injured his knee and missed much of his junior season. The Gophers need tackles and are hoping he can bolster the roster. There is also a void on the wide receiver roster where Lyons can make an impact. Fleck likened his physical skills to former Minnesota All-Big Ten wide receiver Tyler Johnson.

Fleck, who just completed his eighth regular season with the Gophers, keeps preaching he is in charge of a developmental program. Generally, that means Minnesota (like many schools in the Power 4 conferences) will not be able to attract large numbers of four and five-star players.

That is reflected in the annual 247Sports composite national recruiting rankings. Minnesota ranks No. 51 in the 2025 listings. Dating back to 2021, the Gophers have been No. 38, 49 and 46 last year.

Today’s National Signing Day precedes the opening of the transfer portal next Monday. The portal means losing players on the existing roster and adding transfers from other schools, potentially at other levels than Division I including FCS which has been a productive source for Power Four programs including Minnesota (FCS alums Brosmer, Jack Henderson and, Ethan Robinson from the 2024 team).

Despite the transfer portal opportunity after last season, the Gophers retained an impressive 16 starters from the 2023 team. Name, Image and Likeness money for football through Dinkytown Athletes, the Golden Gophers official collective handling NIL, has increased since a year ago. DA, like other collectives, keeps its balance sheet private but it’s believed there is a significant increase from a year ago partially because of a recent “million-dollar match campaign” with Mark Pearson’s Twin Cities-based financial services company, Nepsis, and donations, memberships and upgrades of memberships from the public and businesses.

The estimate here is DA will have between $2 million and $3 million for football NIL. It’s believed Koi Perich, named All-Big Ten safety this week by both the media and coaches, and a candidate for national Freshman of the Year, might receive an NIL amount of over $500,000 next year. Running back Darius Taylor is believed to be another six-figure NIL Gopher.

No doubt players transferring in, as well as those already on the roster, will benefit from earnings doing NIL work. And the Gophers will have a significant number of transfers with obvious needs at receiver, offensive line and cornerback. There could be 10 to 15 incoming players.

Fleck’s name has been linked with the North Carolina head coach opening but he likely isn’t leaving Minnesota. There is more TV money for a Big Ten program than in the ACC where North Carolina competes. Fleck and his wife like living here and have established roots after eight seasons with both the program and community, and they recently moved into their newly built suburban Minneapolis home.

Fleck also has considerable contract security here, similar to many other college football head coaches now. If he is fired without cause his buyout is over $23 million ($23,302,502), per a USA story on coaches October 16. Kirby Smart at Georgia tops the buyout list at $118,083,333. Ohio State fans are grumbling about yet another loss to Michigan but neither the school nor another entity likely wants to pay the $37,276,042 to fire head coach Ryan Day and say, “Goodbye Columbus!”

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Twins Unknowns for 2025 Move into Historical Territory

Posted on November 16, 2024November 16, 2024 by David Shama

This is a historical offseason for the Twins, one with questions and uncertainties at a level not seen since more than 20 years ago when it appeared the franchise could dissolve via MLB contraction.

The fanbase is justified in scrutinizing the Twins on multiple fronts. These include ownership, front office leadership, personnel on the field and home options for watching games.

That’s a lot and the fanbase has patrons who are either angry, puzzled or apathetic about the franchise’s status. There are also customers who are pretty much on board no matter what’s going on because, win or lose, they embrace the nostalgia, charm and experience of the “grand old game” when played in Target Field—one of baseball’s great ballparks.

The Pohlads, to the applause of some fans, are exploring selling the franchise the family has operated since 1984. What interest and quality of ownership can the Pohlads attract? A new owner is always a roll of the dice for fans.

New ownership comes with no guarantee that things will be better than in the past— or even as good. Nor is there any certainty the best interests of fans will be a priority.

It’s believed the Pohlads will ask more than the $1.7 billion agreed upon by new ownership for the Orioles earlier this year. That doesn’t mean the Pohlads won’t settle for less but there’s certainly a bottom figure the family is willing to accept. And fans should be prepared to have them own the franchise indefinitely.

The average fan isn’t losing any sleep over who the next owner will be, but diehards are restless about the quality of the club that takes the field next season. The Twins looked like a certainty to make the playoffs last summer but plunged late in the season to a 82-80 record.

There were too many players who faltered in August and September. Their performances, whether veterans or inexperienced, raise questions going into 2025 as to whether they can perform well enough to help turn the Twins into a postseason club.

The Twins’ present roster doesn’t look complete enough as it is. Minnesota likely needs starting pitching help in the fourth or fifth spots, or both. Right-handed hitting from corner outfielders will also have to come from either another team or within the farm system.

Those personnel decisions will still receive attention from Derek Falvey, but newly promoted Jeremy Zoll now takes a larger role as the general manager. His success is needed to help shape whether the Twins can contend for a Central Division title in 2025. Fans wonder how he will do and also why former GM Thad Levine is no longer with the club.

Falvey will not only continue to lead the baseball department but also will head business operations replacing Dave St. Peter as president in 2025 as part of a gradual transition. Falvey has been president of baseball operations since late 2016 and the Pohlads think he can do both jobs. He is well liked within the organization and is a collaborator. St. Peter will stick around indefinitely as a consultant and point man on the pending sale of the franchise.

One question that fans feel is already answered is the 2025 budget to pay players which reportedly will remain about $130 million. That figure was down from a reported $156 million budget in 2023, cut at least in part because of declining local TV revenue.

For 2025 MLB will be taking over production and distribution of Twins games. A source told Sports Headliners he didn’t know how much less revenue this will result in for the franchise, but described it as significantly less than in 2023 and further back.

Fans will have to figure out what’s best for them regarding how to watch the team. Games will be available via television and streaming. New cable and satellite channels will offer games in the Twins’ market area. At least some subscribers will need to pay more than when the 2024 season began.

Some fans couldn’t watch games on cable for a couple of months this past season because of a contract dispute between Comcast Xfinity and Bally Sports North.

Worth Noting

St. Peter, who announced this week he is transitioning from Twins president to an advisory role, is a Horatio Alger story. The University of North Dakota alum had a humble start in the Twin Cities including internships with the NHL North Stars and the Twins. He impressed Twins leaders early on, including when he managed the team’s pro shop in Richfield in 1991. Eleven years later he became the franchise’s fourth president.

St. Peter’s legacy includes his leadership in the drive to build Target Field, now recognized among the premier baseball stadiums in the country. Just his knowledge of stadiums seemingly positions him as a potential consultant to cities hoping to attract a MLB franchise.

The 7-6 Timberwolves are 4-1 when Anthony Edwards scores 30 or more points. He had 36 in last night’s overtime win against the Kings in Sacramento.

Gopher forward Parker Fox, now in his eighth season of college basketball, is worth a listen on Mondays in the 11 a.m. hour when he joins the Paul Allen program on KFNX-FM.

A Sports Headliners reader emailed to report that among those witnessing last Wednesday’s 14-point first half debacle by the basketball Gophers at Williams Arena was Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle. The Gophers, 2-1, lost 54-51 to North Texas, 3-0.

Jamal Mashburn Jr., who played one season for the Gophers and three at New Mexico, is in his final year of college eligibility at Temple where after four games the 6-2 guard is averaging 23.5 points per game.

The Minnesota Old Timers Hockey Association holds its annual November luncheon November 25 at Mancini’s Char House in St. Paul. Minneapolis native, former Gopher and ex-Red Wings player Reed Larson will be the speaker, with Dick Jonckowski the emcee.

Jonckowski, who turned 81 last month, no longer drives because of family concerns but gets rides from others and is still working events. Don’t bother to ask for the Polish Eagle’s email address, he’s never had a computer and doesn’t plan on buying one.

Erich Martens, executive director of the Minnesota State High School League, is the latest guest on “Behind the Game.” Martens talks about the MSHL providing a fun, fair and safe environment for all concerned including athletes and coaches. Co-hosts are Patrick Klinger and Dave Boden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57tys0YUBHY&t=22s

Longtime professional wrestling fans were saddened to learn of Al DeRusha’s passing away at age 88 earlier this month. The Twin Cities native made a living behind and in front of TV cameras promoting shows for Verne Gagne (AWA) and Vince McMahon (WWF). A career highlight was DeRusha’s 2015 induction into the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Carson Hansen, who was the A.P. Minnesota Player of the Year when he was at Lakeville South, leads the Iowa State Cyclones in both rushing yards, 495, and touchdowns, eight.

Chase Thompson, at 6-8 among the tallest quarterbacks in Minnesota prep history, is one of 10 finalists for the Mr. Football Award that will be announced December 15. The Alexandria athlete has committed to Clemson’s basketball program. He is the younger brother of former Gopher basketball player Treyton Thompson who is now at Stetson.

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