Known for making a few team jumps during his lengthy quarterback career, Josh McCown has landed a second gig as a quarterbacks coach in as many years.
The Vikings hired McCown as their quarterbacks coach, the team announced Tuesday. This comes months after the Panthers fired him in the wake of Frank Reich‘s early dismissal. Minnesota is among the cities McCown, 44, did not stop through as a player, but he will get to work under third-year HC Kevin O’Connell.
A candidate to become the Texans’ head coach in two offseasons, McCown did not land that job. Such an appointment would have come as controversial given his inexperience coaching. Following interviews for the Houston job in consecutive years, McCown landed in Carolina. That became a mistake.
In an attempt to assemble an all-star staff around Reich, David Tepper allowed a complex Bryce Young developmental effort to commence. This included marrying concepts from Reich and OC Thomas Brown, with McCown having an influence in the offense’s direction as well. The experiment faceplanted, and after Jim Caldwell and interim HC Chris Tabor orchestrated McCown’s firing, the Panthers have a new staff in place.
McCown played 18 NFL seasons, skipping the 2010 campaign while playing in the original United Football League, and bounced around the league. While the journeyman has no prior history in Minnesota, he did throw a rather important pass in Vikings annals. McCown’s final-seconds toss to Nate Poole produced a game-winning Cardinals touchdown that knocked the Vikings out of the 2003 playoffs. That was McCown’s second season; he will now aim to use the Vikings as a bounce-back opportunity in his second coaching season.
The Vikings are moving Chris O’Hara from QBs coach to pass-game specialist. O’Hara has been on O’Connell’s staff throughout the latter’s Twin Cities tenure. He came over from the Rams along with O’Connell and OC Wes Phillips.
This comes as a clear indicator that the team will be drafting their QBOTF.
Kirk to Atlanta then? I agree, they’ll go for a rookie QB.
I think it’s just a clear indicator that they promoted their quarterbacks coach. They may well draft a QB, but I don’t think hiring McCown makes that any more true.
I would argue the opposite. One would think they’d prefer McCown to come in and be position coach for a vet rather than another young QB after witnessing the disaster in Carolina last season (not that it was McCown fault, but he seems like a better match for a vet so early in his coaching career).
Respect to McCown for going full throttle Zack Morris on his hairstyle.
Rocking a Peaky Blinders look
I have a bad feeling that this signing is going to offer some false hope to Adrian Peterson…lol.