When Kevin O’Connell saw an opportunity earlier this season to needle Harrison Smith, little did they realize this innocuous razzing would turn into a standing weekly meeting between the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and the longest-tenured player on his team.

The connection between the boss and the veteran safety, who are separated by less than four years in age, was clearly begging to be deepened.

“Hey, you never come see me anymore,” O’Connell told Smith.

“I’ll come by Friday. What time?” Smith responded.

True to his word, Smith walked into O’Connell’s office later that week — with two coffees in hand. After a chat that focused on fatherhood and families rather than blitzing tendencies or zone coverage, the vibe was good enough to keep it going.

“See you next week?” O’Connell asked him on his way out.

Smith has been stopping by for a half-hour every Friday since.

“We’ve always had a more of a peer relationship,” Smith said after a recent practice. “He is my boss, but we’re closer in age. He kind of came into the league when it was a certain way, and it’s changed a little. I’ve definitely gotten to know more about him as a coach, a player, a person, the whole thing.”

Having steered the Vikings to a 14-3 record in the regular season after they were widely projected as a last-place team by analysts and oddsmakers, O’Connell is one of the leading candidates for the NFL Coach of the Year award. Beyond the acumen as an offensive strategist and a quarterback developer, though, is a revered leader who learned enough from his stint as a backup in the league to apply toward his approachable personality and get the most out of his players.  

Understanding their backgrounds and figuring out what makes them tick is a perpetually vital part of the job, and there’s nobody O’Connell has enjoyed getting to know more than Smith, the six-time Pro Bowl selection in his 13th season in the NFL.

“He can be such a good gauge of the locker room and the pulse of the building and all those things,” O’Connell said. “It’s not necessarily he’s telling me things that I need to know. It’s just his unique ability to be around guys who are a lot younger than him, or other veteran players, and just communicate. I do feel like in a lot of ways it’s a peer-to-peer type of relationship because of the respect level there, but it’s been a cool part of this year getting that time with him.”

Smith will turn 36 one week before the Super Bowl, where he’d love to be for the first time with this championship-deprived franchise. The Vikings start the playoffs on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams in a wild-card round game that was moved to Arizona out of concern for wildfires in California.

O’Connell has tried to steer clear of the subject of Smith’s future, as tempting as it can be to tease him about the uncertainty of his status beyond this season.

“I’m like, ‘Hey, man, you’re playing pretty darn well. What are you thinking?'” O’Connell said. “Then he’ll laugh and change the subject.”

O’Connell went so far as to name Smith as one of the players that comes to mind when he sees the team’s Norseman logo. The classic extra coach on the field, Smith has naturally been a big boost for defensive coordinator Brian Flores and his desire to run an aggressive, disguise-heavy scheme.

Before Minnesota’s game against Atlanta in Week 14, with the return of quarterback Kirk Cousins raising the energy level in the stadium and on both sidelines, Flores asked Smith to talk to the defense about keeping level-headed, figuring the message was best delivered by one of the most respected players on the field.

“I love coaching him,” Flores said. “He’s allowed me to be more creative and attempt to do some things — because they don’t all work — because of his acumen, because of his leadership, because I think he can get us into some certain things that will help us.”

Though Smith has a tendency to recoil slightly when reminded of his status as the oldest player on the team, he has relished being the go-to guy for advice on and off the field among his fellow defenders. His wingman in the secondary, fourth-year safety Cam Bynum, thought so highly of Smith that he bought him a piano after his rookie season once he heard Smith was learning to play.

“A lot of conversations we have are about music, because he plays guitar. So it’s like, ‘Why not learn piano too?'” Bynum said. “We’re locked in forever technically. He’ll see that piano and be like, ‘That’s my guy Cam.'”

The Vikings won’t soon forget Smith, whenever he decides to hang it up.

“You just respect everything about how he operates, how he treats people, how he communicates,” O’Connell said. “I don’t know if it’s being close in age or whatever it is, but I’ve really enjoyed the time that I get with him.”

NOTE: The original airdate of the video attached to this article is Jan. 9, 2025.