While the NFL playoffs near their finale with this weekend’s conference championship games, one person who won’t be involved is Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
O’Connell’s Vikings missed out on the postseason this time round, but that has left him plenty of time to enjoy other aspects of life which are often lost in the hectic world of the National Football League.
The 38-year-old – one of the youngest head coaches in the NFL – has had the opportunity to focus on how to make the most of time with his kids, his approaches to coaching and what got him there in the first place.
CNN’s Poppy Harlow sat down with O’Connell to discuss the importance of love, both within the dressing room and at home with family.
On life as a quarterback alongside greats
Poppy Harlow: You were drafted by the [New England] Patriots in 2008. You are playing on a team with Tom Brady. What’s that like for you?
Kevin O’Connell: There’s nobody better in the league playing the position, and now, I’m in the room with him as a pretty raw quarterback prospect. You want to try to impress him… try to look like you belong. But that was the best part is he never made me feel like that.
He sure was a part of me learning and creating my beliefs… In my case, some of the greatest football minds, whether it’s Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Sean McVay, the list goes on, have impacted me.
PH: Did you struggle with adversity, as a quarterback?
KO: I experienced a lot of it, you know, through college – never quit being able to get my team to be that successful team… And then the adversity of being cut, being traded, being told that you’re not good enough. The beauty of it, it normally coincided with a compliment of, “We think you’re going to be a heck of a coach.” But when you’re trying to be a player, that’s not always the greatest thing to hear.
