Kevin O’Connell Takes a Swing Alongside Historic Athlete

A few weeks ago, Kevin O’Connell made some comical quips about being hurt by not getting to play golf alongside Harrison Smith when the safety was in the town. Maybe putting in a round alongside Scottie Scheffler helps make up for any hurt feelings.

Charley Walters is a veteran sports writer who works for The Pioneer Press. He took to social media to make the simple point: “Kevin O’Connell playing with Scottie Scheffler in 3M pro-am this morning at TPC.” In just a few days, Coach O’Connell will need to put away his golf bag in favor of picking up the coach’s whistle in preparation for a pressure-packed season.

Kevin O’Connell Plays Golf with Scottie Scheffler

Mr. Scheffler knows a thing or two about playing golf.

Nobody on the planet is truly within his stratosphere. Not right now, at least. Rory McIlroy will be remembered as one of the best ever. Likewise, the era will bring up memories of some of the special things that Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, and various others have done. Scheffler is better than them all and it’s not particularly close.

Presumably, Kevin O’Connell feels privileged to share a round of golf with such a dominant force. Is that a two-way street?

Coach O’Connell is widely regarded as being among the game’s great coaches. To my eye, he’s above average but far from dominant, largely due to his inability to construct a formidable ground attack. Introducing true balance to his play calling and the manner in which he can attack the opponent would do wonders for the Minnesota Vikings.

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But then there’s the reality of what’s coming up: Kevin O’Connell is desperate for a playoff run.

Prior to coming to Minnesota, O’Connell was the OC for Sean McVay’s Rams. The skipper therefore came to the Twin Cities with a ring on his finger and the upside of ensuring that those in Minnesota could snag some rings, too. He has since gone 0-2 in the playoffs.

Not too many coaches are capable of having a Marvin Lewis career. The former Bengals coach was in Cincinnati for a long time, putting in work from 2003 to 2018. He went 0-7 in the playoffs during that time. Expect O’Connell to get canned well ahead of being allowed to lose 7 playoff games if there are zero counterbalancing wins.

Kevin O’Connell, in other words, needs to put things together before too long. His roster boasts a pile of talent but everybody is focusing on the high-profile quarterback battle. Safe to say, folks, that O’Connell has never made a more important decision than the one he’s about to make for who starts at quarterback.

The coach then needs his o-line to improve, a run game that’s more than just a casual part of the mix, ongoing excellence from the Brian Flores defense, and the specials to continue being very good (Will Reichard = an assassin who kills the opponent 3 points at a time).

The Vikings welcome rookies to training camp on Sunday, July 26th. A couple of days later, the veterans get to Eagan. O’Connell has plenty of work ahead of him. Maybe Scottie Scheffler will be able to pass along some tips about a well-rounded attack that can elevate on the largest stage.