Thirty-three NFL seasons and 27 of building sincere relationships throughout the Vikings organization.

In other words, Rob Brzezinski's experiential learning and teamwork with Head Coach Kevin O'Connell and his cohort of coaches, and the scouting department, have Brzezinski well-positioned to guide the personnel and coaching staff through stacking good decisions during free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft.

"This is an awesome, awesome responsibility that we have right now, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity — and thankful," Brzezinski said Tuesday when he was speaking with Twin Cities beat writers who trekked to Indianapolis for the 2026 Scouting Combine. "And I think a big reason why the Wilfs have empowered us during this time period is because we have a very, very talented football staff.

"Our entire organization is talented, but we have very, very experienced evaluators and just a lot of really, really good people that are really good at their jobs," he continued. "I think that gave ownership the confidence to move forward during this time period, and I'm really excited to see everybody shine."

Brzezinski, the Executive Vice President of Football Operations, was tabbed for this role after the team parted ways with former General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Jan. 30 (he has rejoined the 49ers, who he broke into the NFL with and served from 2013-19, as a personnel executive). Brzezinski and O'Connell took turns speaking in length Tuesday with media members who cover the team in Minnesota.

It was the first time either commented since the change, and a top takeaway from their sessions is the alignment between ownership, the fifth-year head coach who owns a 43-25 record (.632) and Brzezinski.

"I think the biggest thing that we've tried to do once this change occurred is get together as a group, with K.O., with ownership, with our personnel leadership, and talk about, 'What is our vision, our philosophy for building this team moving forward?' And get everybody aligned with respect to that, and have guardrails in place as far as how we're going to do things," Brzezinski said. "Team-building has always been a passion of mine. I've studied it a lot. In my 33 years in this business, I've sat in every meeting, I've been a part of every roster construction every year. So I've seen a lot and I've studied a lot."

Brzezinski acknowledged that complementing the roster under his purview through free agency and the draft is exciting to him, but he sees the people already in the building and being synced up with them as his chief responsibility; and he is most interested in multiplying good decisions that are in the best interest of the club in 2026 and after, and is "not going to try to manufacture anything that's not there."

Like some of the buzzwords associated with all good partnerships — consensus, collaboration, etc. — Brzezinski used the analogy that the head coach and general manager of an NFL team are in a marriage.

"When you get married, you don't sign an agreement of who's got final authority, right?" he posed to the group rhetorically. "There are crises, and there are things that come up, and there are things you have to manage. It's cliché, but in the perfect world for this really to work, it has to be that way — where you're arriving at these decisions collaboratively and with the same vision and the same alignment.

"And I will say this," Brzezinski added. "Obviously we have to have a protocol in place, right? And so the owners have asked me to handle that [final say] if that would occur. But our intent is to have complete and total collaboration and alignment. And I think the decisions are going to be pretty easy to make."

O'Connell views the invisible chain of command similarly, as less of a hierarchy and more of a joint effort.

"Speaking to the timing of it, I just know that our ownership is — I think they're the best owners in sports," O'Connell said. "I think they're very thorough in their postseason evaluation (of everything)."

"My goal moving forward is to be the best I can be for the process with Rob," said O'Connell, sharing he is focused on supporting Brzezinski and the personnel staff, as well as his coaches, which include some internal promotions and new hires. "And ultimately have the best parts of our organization come together in a way to make consistent good decisions and collective decisions and make our team better."

Brzezinski certainly is surrounded by skilled individuals — and they will lead in their areas of expertise. Director of College Scouting Mike Sholiton runs the draft meetings; Director of Pro Personnel Sam DeLuca heads up free agency; and consultant Matt Thomas and Senior Manager of Football Administration Emily Badis will help offload Brzezinski's usual role crunching numbers for negotiations.

The exec's three-plus decades in the NFL — and the value he brings — were contextualized by O'Connell.

"There's very few times where it may be new for me, it may be new for some of our other folks — but it's not for Rob," O'Connell said regarding what stands out about the seasoned administrator. "He's been through situations where he can recall those experiences and really provide guidance in many ways."

It's nothing new. Brzezinski's done exactly that for 27 years in Minnesota. Now it's more publicly known.

"That's going to be something that Rob has always brought to this organization," O'Connell said matter-of-factly. "He brings a level of poise. He brings a level of conviction, understanding that building teams around a football philosophy is important and how we do that requires a lot of really talented people, a lot of dialogue and a lot of time spent together; a lot of time spent together learning how we remove any and all pitfalls that could exist as you go from team-building to team development and inevitably what we as coaches feel the most impact — putting our team on the field, best case, to go win games."

In his assessment, O'Connell also pointed out he would be remiss not to mention Brzezinski's character.

"When you just watch his ability to bring out the best in people, interact with people at all levels of organization, coaches included, where maybe he doesn't have a direct-by-depth-chart connection to the coaching staff, Rob has a great connection with every single one of my coaches," O'Connell assured.

"And I know I couldn't have done this job over the last four years without him," he added.

An offseason plan of attack

After self-scouting from a 10,000-foot view, the Vikings will transition into the March and April frenzy.

Regarding the current roster, which is buttressed by veteran talent, Brzezinski referenced spending on FAs in recent offseasons and the desire to keep the core intact while working with salary cap constraints.

"That's going to involve making some difficult decisions on some players, which you deal with on a daily basis," Brzezinski said, shifting attention to scoring players who "fit what we consider a Minnesota Viking to be from an intangible standpoint and, again, operate within guardrails so we can make decisions; and we just keep talking about stacking good decisions, not forcing anything. I think if you do that enough times, then suddenly you're building a team. And that's what we're trying to do. It's not about picking players. It's about really building a team within the culture that K.O. has set forward in our organization."

One of the tenets of the Vikings team-building this offseason is deepening the quarterback room. Brzezinski said they are "exploring all possibilities" that are financially doable but maintained 2024 No. 10 pick J.J. McCarthy is a "fabulous person" and "he's going to maximize what's in that body and what his potential is." O'Connell explained there's many elements tied to creating competitiveness at the position.

"What we've got to determine is what each decision means in conjunction with the (QB) room, our salary cap, the circumstances of roster building, and inevitably trying to be the most competitive team we can be for 2026 with a mindset on still continuing to have the long-term plan and vision kind of morphed together, if you will," he said, citing the franchise won 13 and 14 games in seasons it started one player (2022 and 2024) versus shuffling through seven total starters in 2023 (7-10) and 2025 (9-8).

O'Connell made sure to mention, though, that heightened competition at the position will never replace his commitment to "development, coaching, teaching and figuring out the best way" to grow the roster.

On potentially obtaining a level of authority over the roster and personnel decision-making that he has not held previously, O'Connell made it crystal clear his primary wish is doing what's best for the Vikings.

"I think leadership in its purest form is at its best when that question doesn't necessarily have to be answered," O'Connell said about the idea of someone having a final say. "That means a lot of things."

O'Connell elaborated: "That means that we're doing a lot of things in an effective way; that everybody that has a role feels strong within their role — that's me, that's our coaches, that's our personnel, that's who we end up inevitably hiring [as GM]; that's leaning on guys like Rob Brzezinski, like we're doing at this moment because Rob has great experience. He's unbelievable with people. He knows how to connect to people and bring out the best in people, and that's what we need right now. And that's what Rob has brought and will continue to bring. And to me, it's about understanding that I think this is going to be a really unique opportunity for someone, because I know the confidence I have in our organization.

"I know how fortunate I feel to work for our ownership," O'Connell added. "And it's not to say that we don't have a lot of the challenges that 31 other teams do — but what makes our league so unique and so great is it's the most competitive league in the world. And year over year you see teams that are constantly growing, evolving, changing and trying to maximize themselves. I think that takes everybody."

Between the Combine, and free agency and draft meetings, as well as Top 30 visits in Eagan, the Vikings will be gathering crucial information on prospects; and O'Connell envisions Brzezinski "galvanizing" the college and pro personnel staffs to best utilize the info and come to conclusions that will pay dividends.

"We can canvas a lot of the country from a standpoint of Pro Days and getting touchpoints with these guys in every possible way we can," O'Connell said. "Then I think at the end, we'll be the collective group coming together to really stack the board and make sure we're in total alignment with [our goals]."

Brzezinski's work with the Vikings draft process since 1999 has strengthened his belief in "setting the board objectively based on talent," he said. "Because if Player A is [available] and he is a solid starter at a 'non-need' position, and then you go down and you take a player down here at a 'need' position, you think you fill that need, and then short term, you're going to find out you haven't, so you have a hole anyway, when you could have filled another hole with a solid starter. I really think that's the biggest key."

Brzezinski also shared "there's a lot of luck involved" with players staying healthy, adjusting to money and a new market, and the dynamics created by families; the humanness that goes beyond performance.

"There's a reason why first-rounders historically, are, whatever they are, a 40-percent chance [of panning out]," Brzezinski said. "And there's a lot of factors, I think, that go into it. But the core belief that I have in my experience, in sitting in all these meetings, is you have to get the board stacked objectively. When we go into the draft, you're obviously trying to fill your needs, but you can't do that if you trick yourself and you're pushing guys up for need through a variety of meetings, or you want the board to look a certain way so it falls and you feel comfortable: 'Hey, look, our number one need just happens to align with the best player on the board.' … We're obviously going to have players that we want to target and want to identify, and then we figure out how to acquire those players, building on the 'best player available.' "

After the annual event

Minnesota's approach this offseason is unique in comparison to timelines of changing GMs, but there's ample continuity for proceeding through the draft — and ownership will evaluate the position afterward.

When he was asked about his involvement in searching for the dismissed GM's official replacement, O'Connell said he can't speak to that just yet because he is fixed on the present and "looking forward from a standpoint of what's right in front of us; and that's working with Rob and the personnel staff and coaching staff and getting everybody to a place where we feel good about the decisions that we're going to collectively make — whether that's free agency [or] the draft — and how we inevitably take the field during the offseason program. But I do know there'll be a time and a place for those conversations."

O'Connell emphasized his belief in the Wilf family to hire a person that is in absolute alignment with organizational traits. He expressed he is excited to work in conjunction with the future GM, in addition to "a lot of the talented people we have in our building currently to ensure that both the process of finding that person and then inevitably getting to work with that person every single day will be a success."

Brzezinski doesn't pay attention to the pressure of working toward goals under an interim title because it could distract and veer him off track. He's applying his energy to the organizational vision and the philosophy set up by the Wilfs — balancing objectives for 2026 with systems to attain long-term success.

He's not viewing this as a tryout for permanent GM status. Rather, he's right where his feet are.

"It's an awesome responsibility," Brzezinski reiterated. "I've been here a long time. I know what this franchise means to our fans, and I just want to be a small part of one day delivering that championship."

"I'm blessed to be in this league as long as I have, especially to be here as long as I have, and I just can't emphasize that enough. Like, when we travel, we see our fans on the road and at our home stadium. I mean, what this team means to our fans — everybody talks about their fans being the best in the NFL, but there's a special connection here, and our fans deserve to see this organization raise the Lombardi."

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