While building his 28-person coaching staff — the largest in team history — this offseason, new Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell knew there was one specific role that very few could fill: A former head coach who could help guide the 37-year-old through the demands of a job that's seemingly become almost as much about the boardroom as the film room.
Who better to be O'Connell's sounding board, he figured, than the former head coach that gave him his first NFL job?
Mike Pettine, the former Browns head coach who hired O'Connell in 2015 and spent eight years as a NFL defensive coordinator for three teams (most recently the Packers), joined the Vikings' staff in February as something of an aide-de-camp for O'Connell.