O'Connell has evolved as a play-caller and an offensive planner since he learned many of his methods while he was an assistant to McVay on the Rams staff in Los Angeles.

Sean McVay has grown a healthy coaching tree in his eight seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. Five of his former assistants have become NFL head coaches, while several more have been poached for bigger jobs in college and the pros.

Since, taking over in Minnesota, O'Connell boasts a 25-15 regular season record. When talking to Los Angeles media on Monday, McVay said he was "not surprised" by O'Connell's success in Minnesota.

O’Connell was an assistant coach for the Rams and McVay, and the teams will meet Thursday night with little prep time.

Despite never working with one another, Sean McVay and Vikings starting QB Sam Darnold have more connections and similarities than one would assume. McVay was the Rams’ head coach when Darnold was playing his final two years at USC,

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell met with reporters on Monday at TCO Performance Center after their first loss of the season, and ahead of their Thursday Night Football match-up at the L.A. Rams.

Outside linebacker Dallas Turner, the No. 17 overall pick in this year's draft, played a season-low four defensive snaps in the loss against Detroit. His main role, as was the case over the previous couple weeks,