Kevin O’Connell joined a handful of his Minnesota Vikings players to face the media following Friday’s practice session, and revealed that he reveres his opposite number in Sunday’s International Series game in Dublin more than most.

Mike Tomlin, as most will already be aware, has never had a losing season as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has come close on occasions, but has also secured the sport’s most glittering prize after leading the Steelers to a Lombardi over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII — something O’Connell will be hoping to emulate as he enters his fourth year in charge of the Vikings.

Whilst the Steelers, now with veteran Aaron Rodgers under center, have not enjoyed the smoothest of starts to the 2025 campaign, O’Connell insists Minnesota are going to have to be on their game to counter Tomlin’s guile.

“There’s very few coaches in the league that I respect more than Mike Tomlin.” he told Gridiron. “He’s gonna have his team ready to go. They’ll be tough and prepared physically. They tilt things in their favour and do the little things right. They are gonna capitalise on your mistakes.”

Quite aside from what Tomlin brings to the field though, O’Connell says it’s the man himself that is held in the highest regard.

“It starts with the person,” he explained. “Mike’s as genuine, as charismatic and galvanising as a leader as anyone in this league. One of the important things for me as a head coach is being authentic, and I think Mike Tomlin is as authentic as anybody.

“Being himself and being someone with unbelievable leadership skills, he makes it look easy — and it’s not. As a young coach, you take a lot from a guy like him, even before you get to the football side. “

O’Connell confirmed that his own squad had suffered an injury blow in the run up to Sunday’s game, with linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel confirmed as unfit to start, but even that news could not deflect from the legendary Irish welcome that had been evident from the moment the team had touched down on Friday morning.

“We already feel the love and support from Dublin” O’Connell beamed. “and we’ve had a great day of work.”

The head coach confirmed that, true to previous comments about the International Series trips being something to share with those closest to him, his family would be joining him on the Vikings two-stop tour.

“My Mom & Dad will be here — it’s the first time for our family to come to this beautiful place,” he revealed. “When you do these trips, it’s much more than just a game. You gotta over-communicate, you gotta educate the players and let them know the things you are thinking about. Everything that is within our control, we gotta attack it positively.

“It’s a blessing to have such a cool thing for our organisation. It’s great to see the fellowship of our players being around a new culture. It’s important that we have the right resources around us to enjoy an incredibly positive experience. With the weather we had today, It feels like summer camp. We’re on this trip together, so let’s enjoy the heck out of it.”

O’Connell also left the assembly wondering after revealing that he hadn’t just been taking in the sights and sounds of Ireland.

“I’ve also done a little research [on the O’Connell name],” he grinned. “Stay tuned on that. “

Check in Sunday evening on Gridiron for a re-cap of all that goes down in Ireland’s capital.