I think, at the moment, O’Connell deserves to be the NFL coach of the year.
Or maybe it’s the guy he beat out for the job. Had the Vikings’ braintrust not been so scarred by Mike Zimmer’s egotism and grumpiness, they may have hired Jim Harbaugh instead of O’Connell.
Harbaugh had the better résumé, by far. He’s a great coach, and has proven his greatness in college and in the pros. Because the Vikings wanted to — everybody now —“Change their culture” — they hired the candidate who made everyone feel good during the interview process.
The Vikings and Chargers both wound up with winners. The Chargers went 5-12 last season despite having one of the most talented quarterbacks in the game, in Justin Herbert. Harbaugh is 7-3 this year, and his staff has transformed the Chargers’ defense and improved their running game.
Harbaugh’s career NFL winning percentage: .696.
The former Viking in the coach-of-the-year conversation is Mike Tomlin, Minnesota’s defensive coordinator in 2006. Tomlin has juggled two quarterbacks that most teams didn’t want — Justin Fields and Russell Wilson — and is 8-2. This season he has beaten Atlanta, Denver, the Chargers, Washington and Baltimore with a well-coached defense and a good-enough offense.