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Kevin O’Connell signals Sam Darnold return, then walks back comments

Posted on February 7, 2025 - 2:10 pm by

The Vikings coach appeared to make a revelation Thursday night, but then heel turned.

Kevin O’Connell isn’t content with winning Coach of the Year. He wants to win a Super Bowl with the Minnesota Vikings.

That was the message in his press conference after winning the Coach of the Year Award Thursday night. And there was an interesting quote of his floating around social media when the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birken posted on X, formerly Twitter, that O’Connell said winning the championship is the goal and quarterback Sam Darnold will be a big part of it.

That was pretty big news as there’s been no clear indication of whether Darnold will return in 2025. He was on a one-year deal in 2024, and while he had a great season, it ended in disappointment. And the Vikings have a young quarterback, who O’Connell had previously crowned the quarterback of the future, J.J. McCarthy, in waiting. That was a statement.

Or perhaps it wasn’t? Later talking with local reporters, including The Athletic’s Alec Lewis and ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, O’Connell appeared to walk back those comments. Or perhaps he never said them at all. The only thing that was clear after it was all said and done was that the Vikings are open to bringing Darnold back for another run in the 2025 season.

“I don’t necessarily think that was 100% accurate,” O’Connell clarified to local reporters Thursday night. “It was in the spirit about answering a question about (Darnold’s) season, and what he was able to do this year. And then the follow up in regards to what it’s going to take to win a championship. Look, you guys know how I feel about (Darnold). He is a guy who we identified last year as someone who could come in and be successful, and really no matter where he was before he arrived, it was about maximizing out time together. And I think we did that. I think it was a very special year for (Darnold), and what that earned him is that everybody in our league thinks that he’s a bonafide, legitimate starting quarterback in our league and can win a lot of football games. He won 14 of them, so he’s earned the right to be a free agent.

“But we will continue to have ongoing dialogue and discussions with him and his representation as well as being really excited about J.J. McCarthy and where he’s at in his rehab. He’s really hit the ground running as the true offseason has begun. We feel very fortunate, and even considering Daniel Jones was in that quarterback room as well with Brett Rypien and Nick Mullens. I talked about it all season long — the depth. Now, we’ve got to see what that room is going to look like as we try to put together the best possible team for 2025. That’s really what the answer should’ve been, and probably was closer to that. That doesn’t take away from my feelings about Sam Darnold, or what I believe he accomplished this year, and how proud I was to be right alongside him.”

Will it be Darnold or McCarthy next season? Well, the answer didn’t get any clearer.