Tracking Kevin O'Connell's football journey from star high school QB to the Super Bowl

Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell, 36, is expected to become the Vikings' head coach after the Super Bowl on Feb. 13. He's a former NFL quarterback and the newest branch on a growing coaching tree. He's the fourth former assistant of Rams head coach Sean McVay to land a head coaching gig, joining the Packers' Matt LaFleur, the Bengals' Zac Taylor, and the Chargers' Brandon Staley.

2003-07: San Diego State

A high school basketball and football star in Carlsbad, Calif., O'Connell committed to play quarterback for the Aztecs, about 30 miles south of where O'Connell finished grade school. After a redshirt freshman season, he appeared in 40 games as a four-year team captain. While they did not have a winning season, O'Connell left ranking fourth in school history in passing yards (7,689) and fifth in passing touchdowns (46). He still holds the program record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,312.

2008-12: NFL quarterback

The Patriots drafted O'Connell — listed 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds — in the third round (94th overall) in 2008. He spent the year as Matt Cassel's backup after Tom Brady tore an ACL, and appeared twice at the end of blowout games. He completed four of six attempts for 23 yards while taking a sack. He was cut by the Patriots in the middle of his second preseason, two days after completing just three of 10 passes and throwing two interceptions. O'Connell spent five days with the Lions before he was traded to the Jets for a seventh-round pick in 2009. He spent two years in New York, and had various stints with the Dolphins, the Jets again, and the Chargers without appearing in a game. He did not make an NFL start and was out of the league by the start of the 2012 season.

2015: Cleveland Browns

After his playing days, O'Connell dabbled in broadcasting as the sideline reporter at San Diego State among other radio and on-camera television appearances. But he kept his eye on coaching, and got his first job as the Browns quarterbacks coach under then-coordinator John DeFilippo, who was O'Connell's assistant quarterbacks coach with the Jets in 2009. During the 2015 season, the Browns started Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel and Austin Davis at quarterback.

2016: San Francisco 49ers

After Browns coach Mike Pettine was fired after the 2015 season, O'Connell was hired onto San Francisco's staff in February 2016 to work "special projects." He followed former Jets and Browns defensive assistant Jim O'Neil, who was hired as the 49ers defensive coordinator a month earlier. In San Francisco, O'Connell worked with new Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was an R&D analyst at the time, for one season.

2017-19: Washington Commanders

O'Connell reunited with former Jets quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh in Washington, where he returned to coaching players directly. Cavanaugh was promoted to coordinator in 2017, and replacing him as quarterbacks coach was O'Connell, who directed Kirk Cousins' final year as the Washington starter. Cousins ranked ninth in passing touchdowns (27) and yards per attempt (7.6) that season. O'Connell added passing game coordinator to his duties in 2018. He then replaced Cavanaugh as coordinator in 2019. He didn't call plays until former head coach Jay Gruden was fired. Interim coach Bill Callahan shifted those duties to O'Connell in Week 6. While it was a forgettable season for Washington and O'Connell's offense, he guided rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins to 1,225 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions in seven starts.

2020-21: Los Angeles Rams

Before O'Connell joined up with McVay — a Washington assistant from 2010-16 — he was reportedly Josh McDaniels' top choice for coordinator before McDaniels was passed over for the Browns job that went to ex-Vikings assistant Kevin Stefanski in 2020. McDaniels, now the Raiders head coach, was O'Connell's quarterbacks coach when the Patriots drafted him.

O'Connell instead accepted the Rams coordinator job after Los Angeles previously divided duties among the offensive staff with McVay as playcaller. O'Connell did get to call plays again, during the 2021 preseason, which Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur did before him as Rams assistants. He worked closely with quarterbacks Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford as the Rams maintained the 11th and ninth-ranked yardage offenses. With Stafford, the Rams jumped from 22nd to seventh in scoring, and will be playing for a Super Bowl championship against the Bengals.