The final remaining NFL head coaching vacancy has officially been filled.According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Vikings are preparing to hire Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell as their new coach. The team will introduce O'Connell on Thursday.Vikings are planning to introduce Rams offensive coordinator Kevin OConnell as their next head coach on Thursday, per league sources. Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) The Vikings had long been expected to hire O'Connell after parting ways with Mike Zimmer following eight years in charge of the team. However, because of the Rams' run to the Super Bowl, Minnesota had to wait to officially hire him until after the game was Cleveland Cavaliers Hoodie played.We have seen teams take this approach before. The 49ers did it during the 2017 postseason when they waited to hired Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan as their head coach. The Colts did the same thing in 2018 when they attempted to hire Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as their next coach. However, McDaniels spurned them at the last moment to remain with the Patriots.That isn't expected to happen with O'Connell. Some may worry a bit about his news conference taking place on Thursday, but as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports, that's not about a snag in negotiations. It's more about the Vikings not wanting to make O'Connell fly back and forth from Minnesota to Los Angeles for Wednesday's Super Bowl parade.From NFL Now: The and coach Kevin O'Connell continue to work out a deal, as the delay (if it's even a delay) has nothing to do with the . The plan is for a Kevin Porter Jersey pre s conference Thursday, so he doesn't have to fly back and forth with the parade in between. Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) The Vikings are obviously hoping O'Connell a bright, young offensive mind will fit more into the Shanahan mold and turn their franchise into a playoff contender once again.Why was O'Connell the choice for the Vikings? Here's a breakdown of the final hiring of the 2022 NFL coaching carousel.MORE: The Vikings hired O'Connell for two main reasons. The first is his succe s with the Rams. O'Connell, 36, served as the Rams' offensive coordinator in each of the last two seasons. Los Angeles had a top-10 unit in terms of scoring and yardage during the 2021 season.The Rams weren't quite as efficient scoring in 2020, but they generated the 11th-most yardage in the NFL during that campaign despite having the mercurial Jared Goff at quarterback.O'Connell worked with Sean McVay to seamle sly integrate Matthew Stafford into the Rams' offense. The results were solid, as Stafford threw for 41 regular-season touchdowns and led Los Angeles to a Super Bowl win despite some i sues with turnovers.The same can be said of how O'Connell helped Odell Beckham Jr. regain his form. The midseason acquisition quickly developed into the Rams' No. 2 receiver Collin Sexton Jersey and caught seven touchdowns during his 12 games with the team.Wide receiver Cooper Kupp also significantly improved under O'Connell's tutelage. As such, his ability to help develop players could prove critical to the Vikings, who have a young receiving corps headlined by Justin Jefferson.Beyond his succe s, O'Connell has also learned from a couple of the best, young coaches in the game in Shanahan and McVay. Given the succe s of their coaching trees especially McVay's O'Connell was an appealing candidate for this job.NFL POWER RANKINGS: The other main reason that O'Connell is coming to Minnesota? He has a Brad Daugherty Jersey strong relationship with Kirk Cousins.O'Connell served as the Commanders' quarterbacks coach in 2017, Cousins' final year with Washington. The veteran quarterback posted solid numbers under O'Connell, logging a 64.3 percent completion rate, 4,093 pa sing yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also had a league-high four game-winning drives that year.Cousins has publicly praised O'Connell for helping him to develop in 2017. In fact, he compared his new coach to the pantheon of strong, young coaches in the NFC right now in a recent interview, per ."With Kevin I see a lot of the similarities that I saw with Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, Sean McVay," Cousins said on NFL Network. "When they were hired as head coaches you knew they had great football minds, they were innovative, hard workers, good with people. The only real question was, theyre young. Do they have the experience?"I think time has proven with Kyle, Matt and Sean that they knew what they were doing and they were able to learn quickly and being a head coach wasnt too big for them. So I feel a similar sense with Kevin. He is a great football mind. Hes been around a lot of a great football minds. Hes a hard worker. He was big in my development. The fact that hes never been a head coach before, that hes a little younger than a lot of head coaches, Matthew Dellavedova Jersey I think the track record with the other guys would suggest that hell be just fine."That's a solid endorsement from Cousins and certainly played a role in the Vikings' decision. Cousins has a $45 million cap hit next season, so Minnesota will need to get the most out of him. The team is betting O'Connell can do that.BENDER:
