What Kevin O'Connell Thinks of Jaguars' Brain Trust

Count Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell as a fan of what the Jacksonville Jaguars have in place.

As far as connections go with the Jaguars' offensive brain trust, nobody has as many ties as the reigning NFL Coach of the Year. O'Connell spent time with head coach Liam Coen and passing game coordinator Shane Waldron in Los Angeles, and he spent the last three years with Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski.

It is Udinski who O'Connell is particularly high on. Udinski rose the ranks in Minnesota under O'Connell, becoming one of the most sought-after offensive coordinator candidates in football in 2025.

"I think having great relationships with both those guys, I know Shane Waldron as well, their pass game coordinator. Most recently getting to work with Grant over these last three years has been just absolutely one of the highlights of really our time in Minnesota," O'Connell said at the NFL Scouting Combine.

"Getting to do it together. I kind of brought Grant in, believe it or not, kind of as the chief of staff three years ago. He obviously did some of those jobs, but we did a lot of football together. I've joked that if you added up all the hours that I spent with Grant one-on-one, and then you add up all of the hours I've spent with my wife over the past three years, I'd like to think Leah O'Connell would win out, but it's gonna be probably a pretty close finish there."

After a few seasons of Udinski becoming more and more important to the Vikings' process, it is clear to O'Connell that is ready to become Coen's right-hand man when it comes to running the offense and Trevor Lawrence.

"So I'm incredibly close with Grant. I will say this: He's prepared for this opportunity. He is going to do great things for Liam, who I've obviously worked with in the past as well. Big fan of Liam, what he was able to do in Tampa," O'Connell said.

"But seeing those guys kind of link up, it's bittersweet for me just knowing how close I was with Grant and how impactful he was on me and our team. But I'm really excited for him and the opportunity he has working with some great people. Big fan of Tony Boseilli. They've got a lot of great folks down in that organization, and it'll be interesting to see what they're able to accomplish."

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