Why Kevin O'Connell's success could be a road map for Thomas Brown's head coaching candidacy
Thomas Brown’s candidacy for the Bears’ coaching vacancy has a bigger problem than last week’s 25-point loss to the 49ers: his lack of experience.
The Bears’ interim head coach had not called plays at the NFL level until he joined the Panthers as their offensive coordinator last year. He called plays for just eight games because head coach Frank Reich handled the duties, gave them to Brown, took them back and then was fired during the season. That instability stunted the growth of rookie Bryce Young, who only recently has begun to resemble anything close to former No. 1 overall pick.
Brown took over as the Bears’ play caller last month. By the time the season ends, he’ll have 16 career games as an NFL play caller — one game short of a full season.
It’s not often head coaches get jobs with less than a season’s worth of play-calling to their name.
It happened in Minnesota, though, and it’s worked wonders.
When the Vikings chose Kevin O’Connell as their head coach almost three years ago, he’d called plays for parts of one season — in 2019 with the Commanders, after head coach Jay Gruden was fired in October. He was the Rams’ offensive coordinator from 2020-21, but head coach Sean McVay called the plays.
O’Connell was an immediate success upon his hiring. As a first-time permanent play-caller, he guided the Vikings to a 13-4 record in 2022. His offense finished eighth in points and seventh in yards. With four different quarterbacks starting at least two games last year due to injuries, the Vikings regressed to 7-10. Their offense finished 22nd in points and 10th in yards.
This season, O’Connell helped revive the career of Sam Darnold after the Vikings’ own first-round rookie, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, was lost for the year with a preseason knee injury. The Vikings are ninth in points and 11th in yards. Darnold is sixth in the NFL in passing yards, Justin Jefferson is second in receiving and Aaron Jones is 10th in rushing.
O’Connell, 39, made the Vikings’ gamble look smart, going 31-16 in three seasons. The Bears could make the same bet on their 38-year-old interim head coach. They both come off the McVay tree, having worked together for two years with the Rams. Brown was the running backs coach when O’Connell was the coordinator. The Rams won the Super Bowl at the end of the 2021 season.
“Having a chance to watch his development and his growth, obviously going from 2020 to 2021, the Super Bowl year, his more involvement in the offense, [I’m] not surprised at all with where he is right now … ” Brown said. “The understanding of how to communicate well with players. How to command a room in his own way. But also the organization and activation of your best players.”
O’Connell, Brown said, tries to be himself.
“I think he has really strong conviction in that, which is important to me for anyone in his role …” Brown said. “The true test of a leader is to make people better and make situations better.”
O’Connell has done that in Minnesota. Brown hasn’t with the Bears, who lost 38-13 to the 49ers in his first game as the interim coach. He’ll need to get more out of his players to make the Bears seriously consider him for the full-time job.
It would be risky, even if rookie quarterback Caleb Williams finishes the season strong under Brown's tutelage. But O’Connell’s success can at least provide the Bears the road map.
“Knowing the type of leader and human being that Thomas is, you are going to start to see the principles of Thomas come out in their team,” O’Connell told reporters this week. “They are going to be tough, they are going to be prepared, they are going to turn it loose and play fast and physical.”