The Minnesota Vikings were linked to Jim Harbaugh throughout the past week and finally had an in-person interview Wednesday.
Early reports seemed to indicate this was all but a done deal.
But Wednesday dragged on and no updates emerged.
Then, all of a sudden, it was announced that Harbaugh was staying at Michigan.
That then led to an update that the team was going with Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell.
The #Vikings are zeroing in on #Rams OC Kevin O’Connell as their head coach, sources tell me and @RapSheet. The deal can’t be finalized until after the Super Bowl.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 3, 2022
Fans may have been shocked that the Vikings could not land Harbaugh.
It turns out both sides really sat down and tried to see if a match would be a good fit.
The #Vikings met with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for 9 hours today, but the team didn’t make an offer, per source.
So Harbaugh returns to Ann Arbor and Kevin O’Connell — soon — is expected to head to Minnesota.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 3, 2022
NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported that they sat down for nine hours, but the team never made an offer.
So what happened here?
Why Did The Vikings Not Hire Harbaugh?
The issue at hand here seems to be the unpredictability of Harbaugh.
Was he truly ready to leave Michigan?
My guess is there are some Vikings folks very disappointed and some who are breathing a sigh of relief. This was always the thing with Harbaugh, so darn unpredictable, and a reason why the Vikings have been so thorough with other candidates.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) February 3, 2022
It would he appear he was not ready to do so and both sides likely reached that conclusion after an all-day meeting.
That just begs the question of why he would take the interview so late in the process if he wasn’t positive about even wanting the job.
That left both Michigan and the Vikings sitting and waiting on his decision.
NFL hiring practices have been thrown into the national spotlight and the hiring of Harbaugh would have raised another discussion after candidates like Raheem Morris and Patrick Graham went through the interview process and were waiting to hear back.
Instead, the job goes to O’Connell, who too interviewed the normal way.
Teams all over the NFL are looking to make a splash with a big-name head coaching hire.
The Vikings seemed to realize after a full day that they were wise to go in a different, safer direction.
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