Vikings interview O’Connell, Morris, set to meet with Jim Harbaugh Wednesday

Vikings interview Kevin O’Connell, set to meet with Jim Harbaugh

The Minnesota Vikings continue their search for the team’s next head coach, and the job to replace Mike Zimmer appears to be down to four candidates: Kevin O’Connell, Raheem Morris, Patrick Graham and Jim Harbaugh.

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Vikings continue their search for the team’s next head coach, and the job to replace Mike Zimmer appears to be down to four candidates: Kevin O’Connell, Raheem Morris, Patrick Graham and Jim Harbaugh.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Vikings’ ownership is planning to fly Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh to Minnesota for an in-person interview. Harbaugh had initial talks with Minnesota over the weekend to gauge interest in the position. Harbaugh has been the Michigan coach since 2015, and led the Wolverines to the Big Ten title and an appearance in the College Football Playoff this past season.

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Harbaugh spent four seasons as the 49ers head coach, going 44-19-1 and leading San Francisco to the Super Bowl in 2013.

The Vikings announced Monday night they completed a second interview with O’Connell, the Rams’ offensive coordinator. Team officials said Vikings’ management flew to L.A. to meet with O’Connell in-person. O’Connell and the Rams will be in the Super Bowl on Feb. 13 after beating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. They’ll face the Cincinnati Bengals, who beat the Kansas City Chiefs, at SoFi Stadium.

The Rams scored the game’s final 13 points in a 20-17 win over the 49ers. O’Connell is in his second season as offensive coordinator. He was also in San Francisco in 2016 and overlapped with now Vikings’ general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was working in football research and development.

The Vikings also held a second interview Monday night with Rams' defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who held his initial interview for the head coaching job virtually on Jan. 21. The Rams' defense shut out the 49ers in the fourth quarter on the way to winning the NFC title. Morris is in his first season as defensive coordinator, and has been a coach in the NFL in 19 of the past 20 seasons.

Morris was the Tampa Bay head coach from 2009-11, and the assistant head coach for the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-19 before taking over as interim head coach for the last 11 games of the 2020 season.

Graham. the New York Giants' defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, met with the Vikings virtually over the weekend and is expected to meet with them again on Tuesday.

DeMeco Ryans, who had an initial interview with the Vikings last week, reportedly declined a second interview and is staying in San Francisco 49ers as defensive coordinator.

The Vikings’ ownership group fired Zimmer after eight seasons in Minnesota, after finishing 8-9, missing the NFC Playoffs for the second straight year, third time in four seasons and fifth time under Zimmer. The Vikings last week hired Adofo-Mensah to replace Rick Spielman as general manager.