Sean McVay has grown a healthy coaching tree in his eight seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. Five of his former assistants have become NFL head coaches, while several more have been poached for bigger jobs in college and the pros.
One of the biggest branches on that tree looms in front of McVay for the first time Thursday night when Kevin O’Connell leads his Minnesota Vikings (5-1) into SoFi Stadium.
O’Connell won a Super Bowl ring as McVay’s offensive coordinator with the Rams (2-4). He also learned much of what he needed to succeed in Minnesota, where he has built the Vikings into a winner while putting USC product Sam Darnold in position to finally reach his NFL potential.
O’Connell realizes the debt he owes to his excitable ex-boss on the opposite sideline.
“He’s one of my closest friends in this league,” O’Connell said. “I have so much respect for him, how he runs that organization, his leadership, his football intellect. He’s as good as he gets. I’ve got nothing but love for him, and we’ll always be like that.”
O’Connell’s Vikings just took their first loss of the season to Detroit last weekend, but they still look like a Super Bowl contender. McVay’s Rams don’t appear close to contention in their third season after their championship run, but they’re coming off an encouraging win over Las Vegas.
“I’m not surprised,” McVay said of the Vikings’ success. “I think he’s done a great job with a variety of different situations. ... Kevin’s a guy that made a tremendous influence and impact as a coach here. I’m happy for those guys.”
McVay has always been vocal about his desire for his assistant coaches to advance in their careers. His top assistants usually emerge from the Rams with a comprehensive knowledge of what it takes to manage the innumerable moving parts of an NFL team.
“That’s one of the things that probably made me feel so prepared for this job was his willingness to allow me to be a part of things that maybe at other places, offensive coordinators aren’t a part of,” O’Connell said. “I got to see a lot, learn a lot, ask a lot of questions — probably one too many for his liking.”
Kupp’s comeback
Super Bowl 56 MVP Cooper Kupp is expected to return from a four-game absence with an ankle injury, and the Rams badly need his help. Their offense has struggled without top options Kupp and Puka Nacua for Matthew Stafford, whose 154 yards passing last week against Vegas were his fewest in his four-year Rams tenure.
Kupp has been in trade rumors this week, and it wouldn’t be shocking for the decidedly unsentimental Rams front office to move a beloved player who’s been a franchise mainstay since 2017. But Kupp will get at least one more game in front of his home fans against the Vikings, whose pass defense ranks 30th in the NFL at 260.3 yards allowed per game.
Receiver respect
When O’Connell arrived in Minnesota, the first question he fielded from Justin Jefferson was: “How is Cooper Kupp so open?”
Kupp’s success in the 2021 season was a significant part of the Rams’ title run, and one of the reasons the Vikings hired O’Connell was his acumen with play design and the passing game to benefit Jefferson. O’Connell and Jefferson speak continually about ways to beat the double teams that frequently come Jefferson’s way, but the first step upon their introduction three years ago was a challenge to the precocious receiver.
“It was pretty much, ‘You’ve got to learn the whole offense, you’ve got to learn every single position, you’ve got to be dialed in to this concept, if you want to be one of the best receivers you want to be,’” Jefferson said this week. “Ever since that day, I definitely was dialed in. I wanted to be on that same level. I wanted to be running wide open, even if I’m getting doubled and tripled. It’s just all part of the system, all part of the process.”
Coming home
Darnold will relish the familiar sights of home and the chance for friends and family to be in attendance at SoFi, but the nostalgic feelings will end there.
Darnold, who starred at San Clemente High School in southern Orange County and again at USC before being the third overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2018 draft, has only played in Southern California once since turning pro. That was in fan-free 2020, when the then-winless Jets improbably beat the Rams in one of McVay’s most embarrassing defeats.
“We’re just going there on a business trip, especially on a short week, but it will be nice to just see some family members and stuff before and after the game that I haven’t seen in quite some time,” Darnold said. “I don’t have everyone flying out here every single weekend to come watch us play, so it’ll be nice for them to have a short drive to come and watch me play.”
PREVIEW
Minnesota (5-1) at Los Angeles Rams (2-4)
Thursday, 7:15 p.m., Amazon Prime Video and locally on Fox 9.
BetMGM NFL odds: Vikings by 3. Against the spread: Vikings 5-1; Rams 1-5.
Series record: Rams lead 28-17-2.
Last meeting: Rams beat Vikings 30-23 in Minneapolis on Dec. 26, 2021.
Last week: Vikings lost to Detroit 31-29; Rams beat Las Vegas 20-15.
Vikings offense: overall (13), rush (17), pass (14), scoring (6). Vikings defense: overall (19), rush (2), pass (30), scoring (T-27).
Rams offense: overall (20), rush (26), pass (15), scoring (6). Rams defense: overall (26), rush (30), pass (18), scoring (25).
Turnover differential: Vikings plus-4; Rams plus-1.
Vikings player to watch
Kicker Will Reichard. The rookie has not missed a kick yet, hitting three field goals last week including a 57-yarder. The sixth-round draft pick from Alabama is 18 for 18 on extra points and 12 for 12 on field goals this season.
Rams player to watch
S Jaylen McCollough. The rookie undrafted free agent has been sensational over the past two games, following up his pick-6 against Green Bay by intercepting Las Vegas QB Gardner Minshew twice. McCollough, a 24-year-old who played his college ball at Tennessee, is seeing a steady uptick in his snaps and that should continue going forward.
Key matchup
Rams head coach Sean McVay vs. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. There won’t be many coaching chess matches in the NFL this season that are as intriguing as this one. Minnesota will throw a variety of blitzes and simulated pressures at quarterback Matthew Stafford, especially on second down, in an effort to get the offense behind the chains. McVay will counter with lots of motion, trying to get the Vikings to tip off their coverages. Both men will be trying to set up the other to land a tactical knockout blow in the critical moments.
Key injuries
Vikings LB Blake Cashman (toe) missed the previous game and won’t play on the short week. … Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson (knee) is nearing his season debut. He was listed as a limited participant in practice this week and is questionable to play. … Rams WR Cooper Kupp is on track to return after missing four games because of an ankle injury, giving a diminished passing game one of its best playmakers. … WR Puka Nacua (knee) returned to practice this week, but he is questionable to play Thursday. ... LB Troy Reeder is out because of a hamstring injury, meaning the green dot responsibilities for calling defensive plays will go to another player.
Series notes
The Rams have won the past two meetings with the Vikings, including an entertaining 38-31 Thursday night shootout at the LA Memorial Coliseum in September 2018. … The Rams’ run to a Super Bowl title in the 1999 season included a 49-37 victory over the Vikings in an NFC divisional playoff game. … This is the first time the Vikings will play the Rams in SoFi Stadium. They beat the Chargers there in 2021.
Stats and stuff
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was part of McVay’s Rams staff as offensive coordinator for two seasons in 2020-2021. … Vikings QB Sam Darnold, a native of Southern California who starred at USC, has had a 100-plus passer rating in five of six games to tie Josh Allen and Joe Burrow for the most such games in the NFL this season. … Vikings WR Justin Jefferson is fourth in the league in receiving yards, but his streak of four straight games under 100 yards is the longest of his career. … Vikings RB Aaron Jones is one of three players in the NFL with at least 400 rushing yards and 150 receiving yards, joining New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara and Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson. … The Vikings defense is second in the league in opponent scoring efficiency, with points allowed on 18 of 71 possessions (25.4%) to trail only the Chargers (23.6%). … McVay picked up his 79th win on Sunday, tying John Robinson for most in Rams’ history, counting regular season and playoff results. … RB Kyren Williams leads the NFL in scrimmage touchdowns since the start of the 2023 season. He has 24 scores in that span, including eight touchdown runs and one catch this season. … Williams has rushed for a touchdown in nine straight regular-season games, which is the second-longest streak by a Ram. Greg Bell did it 10 games in a row from Week 10 of the 1988 season through Week 3 of 1989. … Stafford (4,965) needs three completions to jump Dan Marino (4,967) for ninth most in NFL history. … McCollough is the Rams’ first undrafted free agent rookie to have interceptions in consecutive games since Don Burroughs in 1955. … CB Cobie Durant picked off a pass against the Raiders, his first since Dec. 25, 2022. He also forced a fumble when he brought down Minshew for his second career sack on a delayed blitz.
Fantasy tip
Kupp said Tuesday that if he’s healthy enough to play, he expects to handle a full workload, which is reason enough to include him in lineups this week. He definitely has more value in formats that reward receptions, having dominated targets in Week 1 after Nacua was injured.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.