O’Connell spoke with Twin Cities media members who trekked to Indianapolis on Tuesday, going through the changes for 2026.
O’Hara previously served as Minnesota’s assistant QBs coach and will now support O’Connell and Offensive Coordinator Wes Phillips in multiple facets.
“Chris O’Hara, a little bit of a shift, just more in alignment with what his roles and responsibilities are,” O’Connell said. “And in a lot of ways, this is an idea position, but it’s also a procedural position with scripts and wristbands and call sheets — things that help not only myself but Wes do our jobs.”
In addition to tweaking O’Hara’s role, the Vikings have added offensive passing game coordinator to McCown’s title. Though the former longtime QB had opportunities elsewhere in the league this offseason, McCown opted to stay in Minnesota and continue developing what O’Connell described as “a journey toward either being a coordinator or, more than likely, a head coach.”
“I think that’s great for Josh,” O’Connell said.
O’Connell called Caskey “kind of a superpower on the breakdown space” who will help the offensive staff operate more efficiently.
The Vikings added Davis while sliding Gibson to the defensive side of the ball.
“That (defensive) background has always been something that he wanted to get back to at some point. He’s one of our better young coaches, and Flo’ was kind of waiting, picking the spot to request his presence a little bit more and had to fight off [Special Teams Coordinator] Matt Daniels for him,” O’Connell said of Gibson.
O’Connell noted a familiarity with Davis, who most recently served in the collegiate ranks.
“He was their special teams coordinator at Maryland but was part of our first diversity coaching summit and then also was part of the Bill Walsh Fellowship,” O’Connell explained, “and he has kind of slowly spent more and more time around us and staff — a really high-capacity young coach I’m excited about.”
Johnson will “close the loop” on the Vikings coaching staff, coming to Minnesota from UCF.
“Another guy that was at North Dakota State; I visited with that staff a few times and a relationship kind of formed there. Really bright, talented young coach,” O’Connell said.
The Vikings had previously announced changes that included hiring Assistant Head Coach Frank Smith, hiring Gerald Alexander as Defensive Passing Game Coordinator / Defensive Backs Coach, promoting Ryan Cordell to lead the tight ends, promoting Keith Carter from assistant offensive to offensive line coach and other moves.