NFL fans know that Kevin O'Connell is a pretty hot head coach, having guided Minnesota to a 34-17 record and two playoff berths in his three seasons at the Vikings' helm.
Fans a little older, and perhaps with a touch of the green and white in their background, know O'Connell, in his pro playing career, saw action in only two games, both with New England in 2008, while also spending some bench time with Detroit, Miami, San Diego, and of course the Jets from 2009-11.
The really mature and knowledgeable fanatics will go all the way back to the San Diego State quarterbacks rooms of the early 2000s and know that HC Jim Harbaugh counted among his QBs not only O'Connell but also Darren Mougey, now the Jets general manager, and Tanner Engstrand, now the Jets offensive coordinator.
"That was a long time ago," O'Connell reminisced with senior reporter Eric Allen at the recent NFL Annual League Meeting, beginning at the 7:25 mark of The Official Jets Podcast on newyorkjets.com. "I'm not the oldest guy in the world, but 2004, we're talking 21 years ago, a lifetime ago.
"But I can remember vividly thinking these guys are great people, great communicators, very smart. Both were very talented as players. What's transcended all that are those other traits that have allowed them to really thrive in their second careers, if you want to call them that. In the most competitive landscape in the world, these guys are now one of 32, offensive coordinators and general managers, which is pretty spectacular, considering I've also become a head coach."
Engstrand didn't play much in 2003-04 as a juco transfer before moving on to wear the first of his many SDSU coaching hats as a graduate assistant in 2005-06. O'Connell began with the Aztecs in '04, Mougey in '05, KOC won the starting job in 2005-06, prompting Harbaugh and his staff to slide Mougey to WR in '06 for the first of his two final seasons in the program.
O'Connell has memories of both as college teammates, but his respect has grown in the years since. His interactions with Mougey as a rising scout with the Broncos were more about exchanging observations in the player evaluation area.
"We've had some great conversations, whether it's the draft process or more times than not about combine participants," O'Connell said. "And you start to realize this guy knows ball, he knows how to see it, he knows how to scout it. He's got a great scouting background combined with working side by side with some great people in John Elway, Matt Russell and George Payton and all the guys that have primed him to now command and lead his own scouting and personnel departments."
O'Connell had more frequent and more competitive battles when the Vikes went up against the Lions, not only with Aaron Glenn as defensive coordinator but with Engstrand as passing game coordinator in the teams' NFC North battles the past three seasons.
The trip down memory lane had O'Connell pondering the different roads each of the three QBs had taken out of Southern California to NFL points east more than two decades ago.
"What does Tanner do as a coach, what do I do as a coach, what does Darren do as a front-office guy?' he said. "We go in and just go to work, put our heads down, learn, do things with integrity, treat people the right way. And what comes out of it is I look at Darren and Tanner as guys who are success stories, but nowhere near the finish line of what their success will ultimately become. I think Darren's been ready to be a GM for a while, and I think Tanner's been primed, working on the same staff with AG for three or four years.
"They're guys I have so much respect for. And being a former Jet and the fact that they play in the AFC, I can be rooting for those guys more often than not."
