To Kevin O’Connell’s left, out a window and over a set of practice fields, there is a set of apartment complexes. One is done, and some of the coach’s younger Vikings colleagues live in it. Another is visible but not done, with the siding still not up and plenty of finishes left to be completed. All of it is part of the vision O’Connell’s bosses, the Wilfs (real-estate developers by trade), have for building around the team’s palatial headquarters.
The race the Wilfs are running in building up the land parallels the one their football coach and the GM he was hired with, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, are leading the team on.
Last year, for the new Vikings brass, was about laying down the foundation, which would serve as the centerpiece for O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah’s burgeoning program. Now the challenge is to maintain that foundation while also building up everything else around it. Which means some goals (like winning) remain the same, while the pursuit of others looks different.
