Kevin O'Connell's Vikings Interviewing Rams Assistants Thomas Brown, Jonathan Cooley

One day after celebrating the Rams' Super Bowl victory with a parade through Los Angeles, Kevin O'Connell will be in Minnesota on Thursday to be introduced as the next head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

He won't be the only one coming from LA to Minnesota in the near future. The question isn't whether O'Connell will be bringing any Rams assistant coaches with him for his Vikings staff — it's how many.

Previously, there were reports that Rams tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Wes Phillips is expected to join O'Connell in Minnesota, possibly as his offensive coordinator.

Now, it's being reported that running backs coach and assistant head coach Thomas Brown will interview for the Vikings' OC job.

The #Vikings plan to interview #Rams assistant head coach/RBs coach Thomas Brown for their offensive coordinator job, per source.

Brown — a rising assistant who interviewed for the #Dolphins’ head coaching job — is also a candidate to replace Kevin O’Connell as OC in L.A.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 16, 2022

Brown is also a candidate to replace O'Connell as Sean McVay's OC, but The Athletic's Jourdan Rodrigue has pointed out that McVay typically hires from outside for those roles. Brown, 35, is a former Georgia running back who came up as an RB coach in the college ranks but has impressed a lot of people during his two years with the Rams, enough to earn the assistant head coach title this past season.

It's unclear what that might mean for Phillips, the 43-year-old son of famous NFL coach Wade Phillips. If Brown is hired as OC, could Phillips still join the Vikings as an assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach? The Vikings have already reportedly filled the role of tight ends coach/passing game coordinator with Brian Angelichio, so maybe Phillips stays in LA.

Another name to watch on the offensive side is offensive assistant Chris O'Hara, who overlapped with O'Connell with the Rams this season and in Washington from 2017-19.

Sounding like Kevin O’Connell is taking Rams TE coach Wes Phillips and Rams offensive assistant Chris O’Hara with him to Minnesota.
— Mike Jones (@ByMikeJones) February 16, 2022

On the defensive side, Jonathan Cooley is the name to watch. He was the Rams' assistant defensive backs coach in 2021 and reportedly has a strong relationship with O'Connell. The Vikings are set to interview him soon and he could potentially become their DBs coach and defensive passing game coordinator under DC Ed Donatell.

keep him last season despite some promotion interest from college programs. Someone to really keep an eye on next few years. O’Connell and Cooley also exchanged a lot of offense/defense notes across the room last 2 years.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) February 16, 2022

We should officially learn about O'Connell's full coaching staff before too long. His introductory press conference is Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. central time.

Again, it's not a question of whether or not any of those names come along with O'Connell, it's how many.

As a reminder, here's what the Vikings expected coaching staff looks like so far, though nothing has been confirmed.

Head coach: Kevin O'Connell
Offensive coordinator: Wes Phillips or Thomas Brown
Quarterbacks:
Assistant quarterbacks: Jerrod Johnson
Running backs/run game coordinator: Curtis Modkins
Wide receivers: Keenan McCardell
Tight ends/passing game coordinator: Brian Angelichio
Offensive line: Chris Kuper
Defensive coordinator: Ed Donatell
Defensive line: Chris Rumph
Linebackers:
Defensive backs:
Senior defensive advisor (or similar title): Mike Pettine
Special teams coordinator:

There's room for all four of Brown, Phillips, O'Hara, and Cooley if O'Connell can make it work. McVay will likely want to keep at least one of them, but he can't block them from leaving if they're getting promoted, only if it's deemed a lateral move.

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