Kevin O’Connell
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell had an uphill battle in 2022, at least according to history. In the Super Bowl era (since 1966), 277 head coaches have taken the reins of the first year of an NFL franchise. Only two of them have won a Super Bowl in their first campaign.
That’s right, 275 new head coaches failed to win a championship in their first year, bringing the Super Bowl success rate to 0.7%.
Don McCaffrey first did this in 1970 with the Baltimore Colts. After Shula left to coach the Dolphins after the 1969 season, McCafferty took over as Colts’ captain for Don Cols, a Colts assistant coach. Baltimore won the Super Bowl V against the Dallas Cowboys, 16-13. Johnny Unitas was the quarterback. Dan Reeves, who later Coach In the NFL, the losing cowboy was a player on the team.
With the San Francisco 49ers, George Seifert was the head coach of the first year who lifted Lombardy. The year was 1989, and Sefert was presented with a royal gift basket containing Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and Charles Haley. The Denver Broncos impose 55-10 on the 49ers XXIV in the Super Bowl.
And that’s it. No other rookie head coach took a team to the Promised Land. A few more have come close in the last 56 seasons. Red Miller took the Broncos Per Super Bowl in 1977, but that squad was canceled by Roger Stabach’s Cowboys.
Bill Callahan led the Las Vegas Riders (then Oakland) in a Super Bowl defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a 2002 quarterback team led by former Viking Brad Johnson. This was Callahan’s first trip as boss.
And finally, Jim Caldwell trained the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV – a game that the Vikings should have arguably played – but Drew Brys got his only and only Super Bowl ring instead.
Overall, five Rookie head coaches have made it to the Super Bowl, and two have won the entire Tamal.
The 2022 Vikings are not – at all – pioneers in winning a championship. However, the new general manager and coaching staff are moving forward as if they are “to win it”. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has re-signed quarterback Kirk Cousins and acquired EDGE racer J’Darius Smith in the free agency, signaling Minnesota’s willingness to compete this season. Otherwise, if Adopho-Mensah had preferred ground-up reconstruction, he would have traded with cousins and stayed away from free-agent signatories like Smith, Harrison Phillips and Jordan Hicks.
Oddly enough, during the NFL draft last month, the Vikings were the only team Decreased Super Bowl differences after the event.
Minnesota did not land a blue-chip player with a 12th overall pick, apparently to Vegas’ frustration. Adopho-Mensah drafted Lewis Cine (S), Andrew Booth (CB), Ed Ingram (OL), and Brian Asamoah (LB) with the results of several transactions involving the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. .
O’Connell began his quest to become the third coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl on September 11. Minnesota hosts Green Bay in Week 1.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to her daily YouTube channel, VikesNow. She Hosts a podcast With Bryant McKinney, which airs every Wednesday Raun Sai And Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking Fandom dates back to 1996. Listed Criminal Pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos’ and The Doors (Band).
