Kevin O’Connell, Sam Darnold and Brian Flores could be heading to New Orleans, after all.
The Vikings head coach, quarterback and defensive coordinator were among the 40 finalists named Thursday for eight of the league’s most prestigious awards, which will be presented on Feb. 6 at the NFL Honors ceremony in New Orleans, site of Super Bowl LIX.
The awards are coordinated by the Associated Press and voted on by 50 members of the media from around the country, including this reporter. Ballots were turned in before the playoffs began.
O’Connell is considered a favorite for NFL Coach of the Year as he shocked the league by overcoming all outside expectations and winning 14 games with Darnold as his quarterback. But the competition is stiff with Detroit’s Dan Campbell, Denver’s Sean Payton, Washington’s Dan Quinn and Kansas City’s Andy Reid also finalists.
Flores, who took five new starters and other key pieces and molded them into a top-five scoring defense, is considered a longer shot for NFL Assistant Coach of the Year.
He’s up against four other coordinators, two of whom have already been poached from Detroit as head coaches this week – offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, now head coach of the Bears, and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, now head coach of the Jets. The other two finalists are preparing for Sunday’s conference title games – Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, whose unit ranked second in scoring (30.9), and Eagles first-year defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who raised Philadelphia’s scoring defense from 30th (25.2) to second (17.8)
Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is being considered for NFL Assistant Coach of the Year. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Darnold’s situation in the NFL Comeback Player of the Year race is the most intriguing and has caused great consternation among the voters and efforts by the Associated Press to provide guidance about the purpose of the award. The AP also made it clear to voters that they were free to vote their conscience.