Once again, the NFL, indeed the sports world as a whole, revolves around our little corner of flyover country.

The current favorites for NFL Coach of the Year should be a Viking, a Viking prospect and a former Viking.

O’Connell’s career regular season record, following a 23-13 win over Tennessee on Sunday, is 28-16 for a winning percentage of .636.

It’s the best in Vikings history, and O’Connell achieved it without coaching a championship-caliber quarterback.

After 10 games this season, O’Connell already has more wins this year than last year, when he had quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​​​and passer Danielle Hunter.

He and his staff coached journeyman Sam Darnold (Sammy might as well file name change paperwork at this point) better than anyone, which means they brought him into Week 12 not just as a leaving but as a winner.

The Vikings staff has quickly integrated a large number of veteran free agents and is winning without much help in the last three drafts. O’Connell bench guard Ed Ingram while first-round pick Dallas Turner produced a second straight zero stat line are the latest successes in the Vikings’ recent dreadful draft history.