You can literally smell football in the air.

The scent of sweat sticking to shoulder pads. Freshly trimmed grass. There's a beautiful aroma on the practice fields, signaling the best time of the year is in full bloom. Did we mention it's finally game week?

Nevertheless, "ranking season" isn't quite over yet.

Ben Solak of ESPN last Friday dropped a story ordering the NFL's top coaching staffs. Solak placed a premium on combinations of head coaches, offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators because there's typically ample statistical and anecdotal evidence about the people in those positions.

For instance, all it takes is a quick search to learn what offense led the league in passing last season, or what defense recorded the most sacks or takeaways (the Vikings tied for the latter rights). There's also a well-formed idea of the strengths of people in control, especially for established leaders.

Solak accented three major points to help readers understand his conclusions: First, "employing an elite, offensive play-calling head coach is the meta." In Solak's words, "there is no escaping the gravitational pull of an elite play caller at the head coaching spot." Second, conceded "it's impossible to create a fair ranking of special teams coordinators from the outside looking in, where data on special teams is very limited, and the lack of public visibility on the role makes it further difficult to riddle out a ranking." Ditto for position coaches. Third, "this is more a ranking of known to unknown rather than a ranking of good to bad."

In the experiment, Solak found it tougher to pinpoint the bottom of the ranking than the top. He noted trying to organize several teams "tied for 20th" – but was not allowed – implying there's little separation.

Minnesota, however, is in a class of its own.

Solak ranked the Vikings No. 1 in his 2025 coaching staff hierarchy, a nine-spot improvement from last year. Atop his reasoning, Solak cited O'Connell's proficiency in scheming up intermediate and downfield passing windows, and his expertise working with quarterbacks, which keyed Sam Darnold's career revival and bodes well for J.J. McCarthy. Coupled with Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores, Solak is sold on No. 1.

O'Connell has easily leaped into that utmost echelon of offensive designers, and Flores remains the cream of the defensive crop. There are always little things to wonder about — scheming for a rookie is different from scheming for a veteran, even if that veteran had never been successful elsewhere — but there is no doubt that O'Connell & Co. elevate players more than any other coaching staff in football.

The 2024 NFL Coach of the Year and his staff edged No. 2 Kansas City, No. 3 San Francisco, No. 4 Baltimore and the Los Angeles Rams. Those four clubs held Top 5 status in Solak's 2024 ranking; Minnesota's quantum jump from 10 to 1 reinforces the quality of job O'Connell orchestrated last year.

To satiate your curiosity, here's how the rest of the NFC North fared in Solak's index: Green Bay was pegged 10th, down two spots from 2024; Detroit checked in next, falling from 2nd to 11th (their inclusion in the top half, after losing both coordinators to head coach gigs, speaks volumes about Dan Campbell); and Chicago's new staff, led by ex-Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson, ranked 22nd.

You can peep Solak's complete ranking and explanations here.

'Cerebral' defender a perfect fit for Vikings

Minnesota's secondary is a fun case study.

There's 36-year-old safety Harrison Smith, the active NFL leader in interceptions with 37. There's Byron Murphy, Jr., who made his Pro Bowl debut last season after picking off six passes and getting close to at least a few more. Joshua Metellus is the savvy movable piece in Flores' mad genius scheme; Isaiah Rodgers is a Super Bowl champion whom Flores watched when he was an assistant with the Patriots and Rodgers was a rising player at UMass; Theo Jackson is a candidate to truly break out in 2025 after biding his time. It's an interesting group, balanced by wisdom and youthfulness, playmaking and consistency.

Amazingly, we haven't even mentioned the highest drafted player: cornerback Jeff Okudah.

Five years ago, Okudah was plucked by Detroit with the third overall selection. He never really got the chance to live up to the billing, as injuries derailed his Lions tenure and then set him back, again, with Atlanta in 2023 and Houston in 2024. But none of his setbacks affected his potential to be special.

"We're going to have him in a role we feel pretty strongly about," O'Connell said last week about the 26-year-old cornerback. "To see him take it and run with it early on — he's had a phenomenal camp."

It's helped being in a place full of people who want to help him.

Alec Lewis of The Athletic on Tuesday shared a focused look at Okudah’s conflicted career, including how he nearly decided to leave football in his wake and pursue an MBA before he doubled down on his goals.

The story goes Okudah was unsure how much more he could put his body through. He had recovered from groin, Achilles, ankle and hip injuries, as well as a concussion. Could he endure anything else?

Lewis revealed that last winter Okudah reached out to a physical therapist and athletic trainer at Ohio State named Adam Stewart, a trusted resource that guided Okudah through rehab for a torn labrum in college. Okudah requested a letter of recommendation for an MBA program instead of healing advice.

Stewart drafted the letter, according to Lewis, but didn't hit send – Okudah wasn't ready to give up.

"[Jeff] is one of the most cerebral people I have ever been around," Stewart relayed to Lewis recently. "He is a guy who really thinks through everything that's being said, and everything that he says."

An excerpt from Lewis' article shines a light on the mutual interest between Okudah and Minnesota:

Flores smirked wryly at the mention of Okudah on Saturday.

In 2020, when the Detroit Lions selected Okudah with the No. 3 pick, Flores' Miami Dolphins were focused on quarterbacks. They would select Tua Tagovailoa at No. 5, but during the pre-draft process, Flores watched the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Okudah. The defensive coordinator has remained intrigued because Okudah possesses many of the characteristics that coaches in Flores' defensive tree look for at the position: speed, length and toughness.

While reimagining his defense for 2025, Flores reviewed Okudah's more recent tape with the Texans and Atlanta Falcons. What he didn't know was that Okudah had been spending time reading about his defense.

"I saw some of the articles writing about the versatility of this defense," Okudah said. "It caught my eye."

It's a good thing he still believed and found a team that believes in him.

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