​Just a few seasons ago, the Minnesota Vikings had one of the better coaching staffs in the NFL, complete with Kevin O’Connell leading the charge. He was voted the coach of the year over the likes of Dan Campbell and Sean McVay, and everyone thought this franchise was close to winning its first Super Bowl.Fast forward to the present, and the team is working on finding a new quarterback, again, and one analyst even has O’Connell in the hot seat.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSB Nation’s Bill Williamson ranked some coaches who are not considered to be on the hot seat to the larger audience, but made the case for some surprising choices. One of them was Minnesota’s head coach, who has done nothing but win in his tenure, at least in the regular season.He explains, “O’Connell’s situation is similar to Campbell’s. He is considered an excellent coach and he won the NFL Coach of the Year award in 2024, but if he fails to lead the Vikings to the playoffs for a second straight year, there could be consequences, especially if the quarterback situation is a mess again. He was hired partly because of his prowess as a quarterback whisperer. If progress isn’t made, he could be in trouble. Remember, new Minnesota general manager Nolan Teasley doesn’t have ties to O’Connell, so he must prove himself in 2026.”The lack of playoff success is what is going to be an issue for O’Connell if he doesn’t find it in 2026. He desperately needs a playoff win to turn the temperature down for himself in Minneapolis.This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell makes surprising list ahead of 2026