Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and quarterback Sam Darnold earned awards from The Sporting News on Thursday after the team made the playoffs for the second time in three years.

Kevin O’Connell of the Vikings is The Sporting News’ 2024 Coach of the Year, and quarterback Sam Darnold is the publication’s Comeback Player of the Year. Both awards are peer-selected. More than 800 players voted this year.

O'Connell, 39, had recently expressed his desire to sign an extension with the Vikings. Reports had recently surfaced that the Vikings were planning to extend his contract, which was set to expire after the 2025 season. The Vikings are also expected to extend the contract of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, via NFL Media .

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings and coach Kevin O’Connell agreed to terms on a multiyear contract extension on Tuesday, following a 14-3 regular season that defied external widespread preseason projections of at least a losing record if not a last-place finish in the NFC North.

Despite a disappointing playoff exit, the Minnesota Vikings still enjoyed plenty of success during the 2024 season. And head coach Kevin O'Connell

O'Connell, 39, lands a contract extension after guiding Vikings to 14-3 record with Sam Darnold at quarterback.

The Vikings were never going to trade O'Connell, who led the team to a 14-3 record and within one win of the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Some had questions about the timing of the report while Vikings prepared to battle the Lions for the division title and NFC’s No. 1 seed that night.

The Minnesota Vikings got ahead of an offseason full of rumors and speculation about head coach Kevin O'Connell with a major announcement.

Kevin O'Connell will not coach 2025 on a lame duck contract. The potential 2024 Coach of the Year has struck it rich with a long-term contract extension to keep him leading the Minnesota Vikings for years to come. Terms of the deal haven't been revealed just yet, but the Vikings have confirmed the agreement.

Now more than 48 hours removed from the Minnesota Vikings announcing a multi-year contract extension with head coach Kevin O'Connell, the terms of KOC's deal still haven't been revealed. It's unclear when the numbers will leak, but it's apparent that NFL Network's Tom Pelissero has a pretty good idea of what the Vikings agreed to pay O'Connell.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. On Tuesday afternoon, the Vikings announced they have agreed to terms on a multi-year contract extension with O’Connell. The exact length of the contract extension and the average annual value were not made public.