LaFleur, O’Connell share plenty on their resumes

Although the Green Bay Packers first-year defensive coordinator has only been with head coach Matt LaFleur for less than 11 months, and even though it’s been nearly eight years since Hafley last worked with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, Hafley is likely one of the best people who’ll be inside U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday who can best speak to who both men are.

As coaches, but more importantly, as humans.

“I think offensively, they’re really, really good at what they do. They’re very bright, they stay a step ahead of you, they work really hard, they’re really good play-callers, they’re very creative,” Hafley explained as the Packers (11-4) and Vikings (13-2) prepared to square off in their crucial NFC North late-season showdown. “So, from that regard, I think they’re two of the best in the league.

“(But) the one thing I’ll say about both of them, they’re both great people. They’re both extremely honest. And you always know where you stand. They’re not afraid of hard conversations, but they both treat people the right way. They’re demanding, they’re not demeaning.

“I think that’s probably why they both connect so well with their players.”

And, in turn, why they win.

While many thought the Vikings were headed for the NFC North basement after moving on from longtime starting quarterback Kirk Cousins in favor of rookie first-round pick J.J. McCarthy — and subsequently losing McCarthy to season-ending knee surgery during training camp, making journeyman Sam Darnold their starter — the Vikings not only have clinched a postseason berth but are still in contention for the NFC’s top playoff seed and the first-round bye that comes with it.

Minnesota went 13-4 and won the division in O’Connell’s first year as head coach in 2022, then suffered through a 7-10 season last year after losing Cousins to a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in a late-October win over the Packers at Lambeau Field and struggling to find a suitable fill-in.

The Packers, meanwhile, surprised many across the NFL last season when, in their first year without four-time NFL MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers and with Jordan Love under center, they rallied from a 3-6 start to win six of their last eight games to reach the postseason, where they upset the Dallas Cowboys and had the San Francisco 49ers on the ropes in the NFC divisional round.

LaFleur has the Packers back in the playoffs in 2024, despite having the NFL’s youngest roster for the second consecutive year, and kept the season afloat with backup quarterback Malik Willis playing in place of an injured Love for 2 1/2 games.

Not only did LaFleur conjure up game plans that allowed Willis, a Tennessee Titans castoff who was acquired for a seventh-round draft pick days before the season kicked off, to thrive with a limited knowledge of the playbook, but LaFleur and his coaches have allowed Willis to reinvent himself, much like Darnold has after the former New York Jets first-round pick struggled amid that team’s dysfunctional operation.

“I’m super grateful for those guys,” Willis said of LaFleur and the offensive staff. “They’ve coached me up on the details more than the outcome, (even though) it’s a results-based league, and it’s focusing on consistency and doing those little things that help you continue to grow as a player and develop into who you want to be.”

Said Darnold, whose 105.4 passer rating is nearly 27 points higher than the 78.6 rating he had in his three years with the Jets: “Just the way that ‘KO’ approaches every single week, the way that he gets us ready — and the way for me that he not only calls plays, but the way that he keeps things very relaxed on game day — it helps me go out there and play loose and free.”

Although 45-year-old LaFleur and the 39-year-old O’Connell have never worked together, they have held some of the same jobs and are branches on the same coaching tree, offshoots of Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.

LaFleur was the Washington Redskins quarterbacks coach from 2010 through 2013; O’Connell held the same job in Washington in 2017. LaFleur was McVay’s offensive coordinator in L.A. in 2017; O’Connell had the same role for McVay in 2020 and 2021 before getting the Vikings job.

“So, same tree-ish, just not the same time,” as Packers veteran center Josh Myers put it.

But beyond their cordial postgame handshakes following the five Packers-Vikings head-to-head matchups during their concurrent tenures — O’Connell’s Vikings hold a 3-2 lead entering Sunday’s showdown — LaFleur and O’Connell have barely spent any time together at the NFL’s yearly offseason gatherings like the Indianapolis scouting combine in February or the annual NFL Meetings in March.

“We do have the same agent, so there’s been (a few) meetings,” LaFleur said.

But the tie that seemingly binds them is the way they bring out the best in their players.

“I can only speak on playing for Matt, but his attention to detail and how much he cares is so obvious,” said Myers, who credits LaFleur for getting him through a summer in which he lost his father, Brad, to cancer. “And then on top of it, he’s a players coach. If something’s going on, he’ll come talk to you. Everything that happened with my dad, he was unreal with how much he helped me. That makes it easy for me to want to play for him. I can’t say enough good things about Matt.”

Asked if he’s heard from any of his former college teammates at Ohio State about head coaches who don’t treat their guys the way LaFleur treats his, Myers replied, “There are definitely other coaches like Matt around the NFL, coaches who care about their players and are loved by their players. But definitely not all of them. I can tell you that. Green Bay has a very fortunate situation right now.”

“Kevin O’Connell’s done a hell of a job in a short period of time there. He got high-level play from Kirk and he’s doing the same with Sam,” LaFleur said. “You see each week (on film), whenever we have a crossover game, you’re always looking at what they’re doing.

“Every situation is a little bit different, but he’s been able to do it now with two different quarterbacks, which isn’t always the easiest. But he’s done a great job.”

With two games left in his third season as head coach, O’Connell’s record is 33-16, a .673 winning percentage. In his first three seasons as the Packers head coach, LaFleur’s teams went 39-10 (.796) — the best three-year record of any coach in NFL history — and are now 67-31 (.684) with two games left in his sixth season.

“Matt does such a great job with the quarterbacks, being in the room with us and making sure we’re all on the same page. And obviously he does such a good job at game-planning throughout the week and dialing up some pretty good plays,” Love said. “But you look at Kevin O’Connell and the stuff he’s doing on offense and obviously doing it with a couple different quarterbacks, he’s having some good success.

“It’s pretty similar with these offensive guys. They do a good job of making sure everybody’s on the same page, with all the little details of the offense and how they want the offense run. And we’re able to go out there and just execute these plays.”

One way that LaFleur and O’Connell have differed this season has been in their sideline demeanor. The previously mild-mannered LaFleur has shown a fierier side than in previous years — he drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the Packers Sept. 29 loss to the Vikings at Lambeau Field, for example — while O’Connell’s players have teased him for taking his never-too-high, never-too-low nature a bit too far.

At one point during the Vikings’ 42-21 victory over Atlanta on Dec. 8, the U.S. Bank Stadium scoreboard operator showed Darnold and star wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison celebrating on the home sideline. And O’Connell had a momentary panic attack.

“I got really nervous they might show me and (thought), ‘I’m going to totally kill the mood right now,’” O’Connell said self-deprecatingly.

Two weeks later, after last Sunday’s win in Seattle, O’Connell got emotional as he presented Darnold with a game ball. Moments later, Vikings right tackle and team captain Brian O’Neill presented O’Connell with one.

“It’s a credit to who he is as a person, as a coach and as a leader,” tight end T.J. Hockenson said. “We’re very fortunate to be able to play under him.”

And that’s one thing both the Packers and Vikings can agree on about their head coaches. Just ask Hafley.

“Obviously, I think Matt’s done an unbelievable job, from what he’s done here so far and what he’s been able to do this year,” Hafley said. “And I’m a big fan of Kevin as a person and what he’s done this year. He’s had an incredible season. It’ll be a challenge for us, (but) I’m excited to see him and I’m excited to get the chance to coach against him against him.”