Play-caller
- Calls plays: Kevin O'Connell (HC) — confirmed: vikings.com 2026 staff announcement (2026-02-24) describes offensive play-calling as O'Connell with OC Wes Phillips, with new assistant OC Chris O'Hara handling "scripts and wristbands and call sheets"; O'Connell has called MIN's plays since 2022 and all 2026 QB/offense reporting runs through him (ESPN, 2026-03-12 and 2026-04-02). No reporting suggests a hand-off.
- Tenure with team: 5th season as HC/caller (2022–) · Prior relationship with QB1: none with Murray before 2026; O'Connell says the offense will adapt to Murray's shotgun-heavy preferences and expand run-game formations beyond MIN's under-center base (ESPN, 2026-04-02).
Last 3 play-calling stops (O'Connell's only play-calling stop is MIN 2022–25; rows are his last three seasons):
| Stop (team, yrs) | PROE | Neutral pass% | Sec/play (neutral) | Motion% | PA% | 11 / 12 / 21% | Condensed% | RB tgt share | WR1 TS | Inside-10 pass% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN 2025 (McCarthy/Wentz) | UNVERIFIED (career PROE +1.4%, 6th among active callers — roundtable.io, 2026; raw pass rate 61.7% — nflverse, pulled 2026-07-07) | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED (58.0 plays/gm — slow, offense-driven) | 41.3% (FTN at-snap motion defn — nflverse, pulled 2026-07-07) | 26.4% of dropbacks (FTN, n=515) | 56.3 / 21.0 / 7.2 (nflverse participation) | UNVERIFIED | 17.1% (nflverse receiving) | 30.1% — Justin Jefferson, 141 tgt | UNVERIFIED |
| MIN 2024 (Darnold) | UNVERIFIED (raw pass rate 61.8%; +0.037 EPA/play; 64.1 plays/gm — nflverse) | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | 41.3% (FTN at-snap defn) | ~28.6% of dropbacks (approx: FTN PA plays / nflverse pass plays) | 49.6 / 19.5 / 12.6 | UNVERIFIED | 16.6% | 29.8% — Jefferson, 154 tgt | UNVERIFIED |
| MIN 2022–23 (Cousins) | UNVERIFIED — data not in cache; pass-lean, 11-heavy by reputation | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | 2022 Jefferson led NFL in rec yds (UNVERIFIED share) | UNVERIFIED |
Read: O'Connell is a McVay-tree caller who passes slightly over expectation (+1.4% career PROE), feeds a true alpha (Jefferson ≥29.8% TS in each of the last two seasons regardless of QB), keeps RB targets healthy-neutral (16–17%), and leans 11 personnel with a real 12-personnel package (~20%) that keeps Josh Oliver on the field. The 2025 volume numbers (58 plays/gm) are a bad-QB artifact, not a pace identity — 2024 with functional QB play was 64.1. Roster adjustment for 2026: Murray's shotgun/RPO preferences and scramble rate should trim dropbacks slightly and add a designed QB-run component O'Connell has never had, but nothing in Murray's profile threatens Jefferson's target claim.
Scheme family
- Run scheme: zone-lean (wide/mid zone base) with gap/duo mixed, now explicitly expanding shotgun/spread run looks for Murray beyond the historical under-center base (ESPN, 2026-04-02) — RB fits: Aaron Jones (one-cut zone veteran) and Jordan Mason (downhill duo/short-yardage hammer) both fit their halves of the split; Murray adds a read-option constraint the scheme never had.
- Pass-game family: McVay/Shanahan tree — motion-heavy, PA-heavy (26.4% of dropbacks in 2025 — FTN), intermediate in-breakers and schemed YAC, hybridizing toward Murray's shotgun/RPO comfort in 2026. Implications: slot/YAC profiles are fed (Jennings), the alpha's target share can be enormous (Jefferson ~30%), aDOT mid; Murray's scramble game historically trades some dump-off volume for off-schedule deep shots.
