{"id":77265,"date":"2024-01-04T01:51:13","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T01:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=77265"},"modified":"2024-01-04T01:51:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T01:51:13","slug":"vikings-urged-to-poach-125-million-coach-to-replace-oconnell-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/vikings-urged-to-poach-125-million-coach-to-replace-oconnell-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings Urged to Poach $125 Million Coach to Replace O\u2019Connell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost two years ago, the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0were so close to hiring\u00a0Jim Harbaugh\u00a0that he had already\u00a0made his round of goodbyes\u00a0at\u00a0Michigan.<\/p>\n

\"Kevin<\/p>\n

Something happened during Harbaugh\u2019s interview, which spanned over 12 hours, that\u00a0left the Vikings\u2019 power brokers skittish, ultimately deciding to hire\u00a0Los Angeles Rams\u00a0offensive coordinator\u00a0Kevin O\u2019Connell\u00a0instead.<\/p>\n

Since he took over as Vikings head coach, O\u2019Connell has led the team to a 20-14 record with one week remaining in the 2023 regular season.<\/p>\n

But after failing to maximize his backup quarterbacks in the wake of\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u2018 season-ending Achilles injury on October 29, O\u2019Connell\u2019s legitimacy as a quarterback whisperer and offensive guru has taken a hit. \u00a0Minnesota is virtually out of the playoff picture with a\u00a02.5% chance of making the postseason, per ESPN\u2019s Power Index,<\/p>\n

And that has rekindled pitches for the Vikings to make it right with Harbaugh, who has received a\u00a010-year, $125 million deal\u00a0to stay at Michigan but recently\u00a0hired one of the NFL\u2019s top agents\u00a0to represent him ahead of the offseason.<\/p>\n

The Viking Age\u2019s Adam Patrick proposed the Vikings should pursue Harbaugh again as the veteran head coach is one game away from leading the undefeated and No. 1-ranked Wolverines (14-0) to a national championship.<\/p>\n

From Patrick:<\/p>\n

If the goal for the Vikings is to win a Super Bowl within the next few years, then making another attempt to hire Harbaugh as their head coach might be something for them to consider.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh has already had success in the past as an NFL head coach when he was with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014, and what he\u2019s helped Michigan accomplish in the last two years cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell might be able to eventually lead Minnesota to a Super Bowl win during his tenure with the franchise, but Harbaugh might be the guy who can help the franchise get that championship victory much sooner.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Michigan\u2019s Jim Harbaugh Transformed 49ers Into Super Bowl Contenders Overnight<\/h2>\n
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\"Jim<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Harbaugh deserves plenty of credit for turning the\u00a0San Francisco 49ers into an overnight Super Bowl contender over 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

Taking over a 6-10 49ers team in 2011, Harbaugh led San Francisco to a 13-3 regular season record and an NFC Championship game appearance. The 49ers became staples in the conference title game with Harbaugh for three seasons, breaking through to the Super Bowl in 2013.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh lost to his brother, John, and the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0in the Super Bowl that year, but the future looked bright for San Francisco. That was until conflict began to bubble internally between Harbaugh and the front office.<\/p>\n

Much has been made public about Harbaugh\u2019s falling out with the 49ers. The franchise fired him for going 8-8 in 2014 despite coming off three consecutive conference championship appearances and the Super Bowl in 2013. He compiled a 44-19-1 regular-season record in four seasons along with a 5-3 postseason record.<\/p>\n

Jim Harbaugh\u2019s History With 49ers Impacted Vikings Interview<\/h2>\n
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\"Jim<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Harbaugh has shown to be the type of leader to galvanize and elevate a locker room quickly, but it\u2019s very much his way or the highway.<\/p>\n

His leadership has proven to work at the NFL level and he\u2019s shown he can win over a younger generation of players at Michigan since.<\/p>\n

The only rift that remains questionable in the Vikings\u2019 talks with Harbaugh likely is his conflict with the 49ers front office.<\/p>\n

Michigan insider John U. Bacon detailed the stakes of Harbaugh\u2019s interview. While the Wolverines coach felt he was assured the job with his history with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, there were several hurdles he had to clear to convince the Vikings\u2019 owners.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh had to \u201cconvince the Wilf family his approach is sufficiently modern in the midst of a youth movement,\u201d Bacon wrote in February 2022 in a\u00a0thread on X (formerly Twitter). \u201cMore importantly, he has to quell the rumors that he\u2019s too difficult to deal with.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday will boil down to a simple contest,\u201d Bacon added. \u201cWill the Wilfs believe 49ers owner Jed York and Vikings minority owner Jim Stapleton, or their own general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah? And that may come down to how Harbaugh performs in today\u2019s day-long interview.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vikings ultimately did not feel secure with hiring Harbaugh. It\u2019s a long shot for ownership to make any sudden changes with O\u2019Connell only in his second year, the Wilfs have made drastic changes after losing crucial games to the\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0before.<\/p>\n

According to The Athletic\u2019s Alec Lewis, the Wilfs, normally present in the locker room after every game, win or lose,\u00a0did not visit the team\u00a0after a 33-10 loss to Green Bay on New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost two years ago, the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0were so close to hiring\u00a0Jim Harbaugh\u00a0that he had already\u00a0made his round of goodbyes\u00a0at\u00a0Michigan. Something happened during Harbaugh\u2019s interview, which spanned over 12… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}