Kevin O'Connell (American football)
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Kevin William O'Connell (born May 25, 1985), nicknamed "KOC", is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). O'Connell played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs from 2004 to 2007 and in the NFL for five seasons from 2008 to 2012, with his longest tenure (2009–2011) as a player with the New York Jets. O'Connell was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Bill, was an FBI agent, and the family lived in Tennessee, New York, and California. He attended high school in Carlsbad, California, at La Costa Canyon High School. After graduation from high school in 2004, O'Connell enrolled at San Diego State University and played quarterback for the Aztecs, starting for three seasons. The New England Patriots selected O'Connell in the third round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played 5 years as a quarterback in the NFL, with New England in 2008, the Detroit Lions in 2009, the New York Jets from 2009 to 2011, the Miami Dolphins and the San Diego Chargers in 2012. From 2013 to 2014, while just retiring from the NFL, O'Connell served as a private instructor for quarterbacks. O'Connell's NFL coaching career began in 2015; he held various assistant coaching roles on the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, and Los Angeles Rams (where he won Super Bowl LVI as offensive coordinator, in the 2021-2022 season). Immediately afterward, O'Connell signed a deal as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, where he led the team to the NFC North division title in his first season with the franchise, and made the postseason in two out of the first three seasons as head coach. In 2025, O'Connell was also honored as the 2024 AP NFL Coach of the Year.