Credit: Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
From 2022-2024, Kevin O’Connell’s right-hand man around Minnesota Vikings facilities in Eagan was Grant Udinski — a smart young offensive mind who started his coaching career at Baylor in 2019.
From Waco, Udinski made his debut in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers organization, back in 2020, before being hired by O’Connell when he started as Vikings head coach in 2022.
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
By 2023, Grant Udinski was promoted to Minnesota’s assistant QB coach. One year later, at just 28, he was named Vikings assistant offensive coordinator. Then last offseason, the 29-year-old was hired away as Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator.
And what a great hire he proved to be. With Udinski at the helm, Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence finally looked like the no-doubt No. 1 pick he was supposed to be out of Clemson, which helped lift Jacksonville out of the NFL laughing stock, and into the AFC playoff field.
Former MN Vikings assistant Grant Udinski interviewing for Browns head coaching job
And in a place like Jacksonville, where the organization has been trying to fix itself for two decades — people notice when your miracle turnaround takes just one offseason.
That’s why it wasn’t a massive shock when, on Monday, news broke that a now 30-year-old Udinski will interview for the Cleveland Browns’ newly vacant head coaching position. If hired, Udinski would become the youngest head coach in NFL history.
The Browns requested an interview with Jaguars OC Grant Udinski for their head coaching job, per source.
Just 30 years old, Udinski has risen rapidly through the coaching ranks. Now, his first look for a HC job. pic.twitter.com/oZ9Pof8PzP
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 12, 2026
Of note, the boy genius would replace another former offensive coach that grew up in the Minnesota Vikings organization, Kevin Stefanski, who won TWO Coach of the Year Awards in Cleveland, before getting the boot last week.
When the Vikings started out the 2025 season with a 4-8 record, it became clear to the entire football world that their former first round draft pick, JJ McCarthy, was not prepared for the NFL QB spotlight.
Meanwhile, their Pro Bowl quarterback from 2024, Sam Darnold, has continued his ascension out in Seattle, under new head coach Mike McDonald and former MN Vikings offensive coordinator Clint Kubiak.
Is Kevin O’Connell really the QB whisperer we thought he was?
In his one season out West, Darnold has cemented himself as a legitimate MVP candidate, leading the 2025 Seahawks to a 14-3 record, throwing for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Sam Darnold needs to be respected and all the hate on his name needs to stop
pic.twitter.com/umMsXorAZM
— DarnoldWrld (@DarnoldWrld) January 2, 2026
Obviously, Darnold’s time with the Minnesota Vikings helped launch his career into a stratosphere that will now be forced to pay him near the top of the QB market. But Sam proved in 2025 that he did not need KOC in his ear to continue his ascension as a football player.
But what we may have also found out during the 9-8, ‘lipstick on a pig‘, 2025 Vikings season — without Darnold and Udinski — is that KOC may have had more help in the QB whispering department, for the first three seasons of his head coaching tenure, than we previously realized.
Mentioned in this article: Cleveland Browns Coaching Carousel Grant Udinski
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