
Was Vikings' Kevin O'Connell ranked in PFF's top 10 returning coaches?
PFF wanted to rank the top 10 returning incumbent NFL coaches in 2025. Dalton Wasserman explained his approach to the process, explaining, "Players ultimately decide who wins and loses football games, but coaching plays a massive part in optimizing their performance. There certainly isn't a shortage of excellent head coaches, both old and young, in the NFL, and we're ranking the best among them. This will be a ranking of head coaches returning to their incumbent positions in 2025. Newly hired coaches — Aaron Glenn, Mike Vrabel, Liam Coen, Pete Carroll, Brian Schottenheimer, Ben Johnson and Kellen Moore — will not be included."
For the Minnesota Vikings, their coach, Kevin O'Connell, is coming off a 2024 campaign that saw him take a backup quarterback in Sam Darnold and go 14-3. In the process, he would earn Coach of the Year honors and is now poised to start sculpting the next piece of quarterback clay in 2025, J.J. McCarthy.
So, where would he be ranked? That's the thing, he did not crack the top ten.
You will have to see the rankings for yourself, but we will mention that the Lions' Dan Campbell came in ninth. No other NFC North coaches were ranked, of course, not the first-year head coach Ben Johnson. That being said, though, not having O'Connell coming off a coach of the year performance is a bit puzzling.

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