NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Power Players: Vikings WR Coach Keenan McCardell

Episode Date: October 1, 2026

Jourdan Rodrigue is joined by Vikings wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell to talk about how playing in the NFL shaped how he coaches some of the NFL's top wide receivers like Justin Jefferson, how he optimizes his WR room's potential, balances the psychological side of the game and more! NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned about your gambling or that of someone close to you? visit connectsonterio.com. Welcome to another edition of NFL Daily's power players. Today, I am so thrilled to be welcoming to the show, Minnesota Vikings receivers coach Kenan McCartle. He was a great player, a pro bowler, a Super Bowl winner for Tampa Bay back in the early 2000s, and now he coaches one of the most interesting receivers rooms in the NFL. Of course, headline by superstar Justin Jefferson. We're going to talk today about how Keeney McArdle got into coaching, which wasn't as

straightforward of a path as you'd think for a former player, how he developed as a coach and applied some of the things he learned as a player and from his coaches to what he does now, how he teaches his receivers to see the entire play as they operate, and how he reaches such a range of talent and experience from season to season. I thought this was an awesome conversation. Let's get into it. I am so excited to be joined by Keenan McArdle today, the receivers coach for the Minnesota Vikings. I think one of the best receivers rooms we've seen in a while, very, very exciting group. We've got the guy in charge of all of it. Keenan, thank you so much for joining Power Players today.

Jordan, thank you for the lead me, join Power Players. I mean, I want to thank you for that compliment, but, you know, we're just trying to do our jobs. Yeah, well, it's very clear. I'm fascinated. We love to talk about process here, and we like to dig in behind. the scenes of how talented people in the sport contribute to the fabric of the sport. And I think that you are a perfect example of somebody who's been doing this at such a high level for years. And even before that, playing at such a high level as well, contributing in so many ways to the game.

So I have to ask you to start, like, why was it football for you? Like, what is your why in football? Oh, man, just the competition, I mean, to be able to go out and work with someone else to get a common goal of being a, a champion. You know, my whole from growing up, you know, I always wanted to win. You know, I kind of was kind of sprawled through my youth sports. I never lost a football game in a youth sport. And then when I got to high school, it kind of, it was kind of shocking to lose the game.

And it was just like, you know, it made me want to work more to be the best, you know. And, you know, it's not easy. You know, guys got to go out and, got to go out and work for it. And I wanted to work for it. And that's my why, just to be the best at something that everybody likes to watch. Yeah. I mean, it's cool to have and to know your purpose, even if maybe you can't name it as a very young child, to know that you have that feeling of, I have to go pursue something.

I have to pursue this. And you grew up in football. You grew up through football, you know, college, pro games. got a couple Super Bowl rings, you know, that must be nice. But it is. How did the sport shape you? I mean, you knew this was going to be your purpose at a certain point. What did it teach you?

It taught me a lot about discipline, you know. You got to be a disciplined person to able to play this game and to be good at this game. You know, you got to fight the demon and the demon is yourself, you know, And, you know, it took me a while to understand, you know, being a discipline. Football player would make you better, you know. And I think I can remember my early years in playing in Ozzie Newsom, who was a general manager in Baltimore, when I was in Cleveland, he was there. He gave me a little hint. He said, you know, you're a really good receiver.

But we don't know what you're going to do on your routes. It's a playground. You're going to be a playground this day or you're going to be a discipline route running this day. And I never thought of it that way. I just thought about myself just getting open for the quarterback. And I started to understand the makeup of this game. You've got to be disciplined and attention to details and be an extremely hard worker. And, you know, I applied that to my life, you know, just being disciplined of what I did.

I'm an extremely hard worker. don't let anyone outwork you, you know, and I applied it to my life, and it has made me successful, you know, and it kept me in this game a long time. Well, so much of that applies to coaching, too, I would think. Did you find that to be a natural path for you? And how did you almost flip?

Now you're the one who has to remind people, I see your talent, but, you know, I see your passion. But so how did that sense? switch flip for you? What was your path into coaching specifically? Funny, my path into coaching was I wasn't going to coach. I was always a super smart. I was always a super smart player when I played. And Coach Coughlin, Tom Coughlin, you know, he tricked me in the coming in to be a Beowash intern during training camp. And it was like a year, not even a full year after I retired. And I was like, let me kind of think about this and you know I'm playing golf right now after this 18

I'll call you and uh and we'll talk about it so I finished the 18 and I called him you said your plane ticket's already been booked and I haven't even said anything to him about yeah I want to be there or not want to be there I don't know what I'm doing he said it's book you're you're coming and uh he's like like my second dad you know he just told me like you need to be in this. And when I got here, he knew the type of person I was when I played, studied, wanted to be a part of the game plan, understanding everything about the game plan, everything about both sides of the ball.

And when I got there, it was just, it was a match made in heaven. I actually enjoyed it. I mean, and enjoyed it a lot more than what I thought. And the next year, I have to thank Coach Shanahan, Mike Shanahan. for giving me an opportunity to be a receiver coach and get me started. Yeah, you, that brings me to, like, sort of a side follow. Like, you've been in some really intense buildings. I mean, I know every building is intense.

I understand that. But, like, to go from the intensity of playing and the competitiveness of playing, then to repurpose and, like, re-funnel all of that in some of those. And we know the Tom Coughlin story, legend, We know the Mike Shanahan watching every meeting and all that, you know? So I'm curious, how did you like repurpose all of that drive? Who did you lean on early on as mentors, like deciding what kind of presence you wanted to be in a building? I leaned on, I know, Coach Kaufland a lot.

I leaned on Richard Mann. You know, I really didn't have to call Coach Mann. He was my receiver coach in Cleveland and in Tampa. So I kind of just recall just some of the things that, how he taught me, how he taught us, not just me, but taught us as a group. And he made it, whereas everybody was, was, was, was, they had to be attentive to every position in, in the room. You had to hold each other accountable for his job in the room.

You know, he always used to, you used to say, you never know when your opportunity is going to come. And I know some of the things that I tell my guys all the time. He always used to say you never know when an opportunity is going to come. Some guys get two opportunities. Some guys get one. Most guys in this league get one opportunity. And I tell my guys that all the time, especially guys that have never been drafted, that wasn't drafted.

I always say I tell them like this, you don't have any skin in the game. So it's easy for the business to go in a different direction if you don't have any skin in the game. And I'm being very, you know, very transparent with these guys about how this business is because if you don't, they'll kind of fall between rocks and, you know, far by the wayside and believe it's, oh, I'm here and I'm going to be here. But, no, it's your job. Coach Man used to tell us all the time, this is your job. It's not a game anymore. You got to go out and perform. If you don't perform, it will get you out of here.

And so I kind of tell it's not a fear, but I also, I kind of put a spin on it the way I say it now is that, think about this. Your mom and dad woke up every day to go to work for you. You're the mom and dad. This is your job. You got to be here on time. You got to work. I say you may get a pass every nine day and then here because you're late. You get a fine.

Think about if that was your mom and dad, if they were late constantly. or something like that acting up, they would be fired. You know, we get a grace. So I try to get those guys to understand that it's their job now. And I tell my young guys, the faster you know that it's a job, the faster you'll jump into this game and understand that I need to show up every day and be at my best every day. Yeah, it's funny.

It's kind of like you have to be their mentor, and you are their mentor and you're their coach. and you teach, but also you have to be sort of like, you know, angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other shoulder, putting a little bit of fear into everybody too. So I'd imagine striking that balance isn't always easy, but it sounds like you really think about how to do it. It's not easy, but, you know, the balance is coming over here

knowing that I have to be the best in the world every single day, you know. And when you're not, you should be able look in the mirror to yourself, like, I wasn't good that day. I need to do better. And do better for myself, but also do better for my teammates. Because at the end of the day, this is a team game, and I'm playing for the next player. Just to pull back the curtain on how you would teach somebody or how you would coach somebody up, when you're talking to a receiver or a player in general who is a good player has all the traits, has the skill,

what do you tell them about what it takes to go from good to great? How do you like sort of refine those technicalities within somebody? We always say in our room, good is the evil of great. Good keeps you from being great. So we don't even talk about good in our room. We talk about being great all the time. So, you know, I understand, you know, the process of coming in from a rookie to the second year to his fourth year, you know, on and on. And you've got to continue to grow each and every year, each and every day of practice.

You got to go out and be great. You got to go out and work at being great. understand what I'm what I'm trying to tell you or teach you in the room and be able to apply it on the field and we're going to work at it on the field and I don't need anybody that's that don't like to work because I like to work I like to do it because I want them to be perfectionist at what they do because if you there's only one person in this world that's perfect and that's God but if you if you you have to work to be perfect I mean, and I know it's not going to be perfect all the time,

but you got to go out every day and try to understand what, what's being coach from myself, my assistant, the head coach, and Coach O'Connell just to understand what we're trying to get you to do and just be uncomfortable sometimes. You got to get in that stage of being uncomfortable about doing something and see if you can do it. And I tell those guys that all the time. I say your body type might not be the one that could be a guy that can be so explosive in and out.

But why not try it? You just never know what your body will do. And don't let anybody talk you out of you're not being great. That's what I tell them that all the time. I want to talk about your room too. And over the years, too, you've had such an interesting collection of people in that room. And such a range of skill sets, first and foremost, we have to talk about Justin Jefferson. What is it like to work with him?

We just talked about, you know, good being the enemy of great. To me, he strikes me as somebody who never is complacent, who seems like a perfect fit with you because it almost feels like I could see you guys. I could picture you guys pushing each other a little bit. He's unbelievable work with. I mean, goes out on the field. Work ethic is there every day, you know. And the day that he's feeling, I'm pushing him, I'm like, the great ones don't ever take off. You know, they keep getting better even when they're tired.

You know, and then, you know, I keep telling them that. You know, he's a guy that he wants to be one of one. He wants to be that guy. He's, it's, you know, it's humble over hype. And when he says that, he means that he's the most humblest person. easiest the coach. He's listening all the time. And then he goes and puts the JJ spin on it.

He'll go out and do something. I'm like, yeah, that's really good there. And I'm like, you added a little something to it. And he said, yeah, I did. I said, I understand that. I mean, and I love it because those different angles say, and he's just different from everybody else. It's guys around his league that are different from everybody else.

And it just looks different, though I say it that way, say it away, and it just, they make it look different. I mean, and those are, those are the great players around the league. Yeah, it's artistic in a way, I think, because take something that he sees on a page, a play call or, you know, a drawing or whatever, and he turns it into this, like, almost fingerprints. Like, only he's, he's the only person who does it. You're taking my saying, I tell them all the time, everybody in here is different artists. everybody in my room they got their own

they write their own pictures they draw their own pictures because everybody's not the same it's not a cookie cutter I can't produce another Justin Jefferson I can't produce another Jordan Addison

I can't produce another Juwan Jen every one of those guys have their own portraits of how they play the game and I'm the teacher that has to understand how they fit

and what they need to do to sharpen their their photo up or sharpen that, like everybody else, their brushes are different. And you got to be able to understand those guys and understand the strengths of their brushes and their weaknesses of their brushes. And then as a coach, you can help them with their weaknesses and also get them to continue to work on their strengths. I love how you describe that because I can really see that, right? And for you, it's not just about being able to vocalize what that is, but also apply it. And just peeling back the curtain even further, what is your process?

And you get guys who are at the, like you said, one of one at the very, very top of their craft and obviously already great because they made it to the NFL. You also get guys who you know you are going to be developing already have really positive plus traits because, again, they made it to the NFL. But different range of people, different range of experience level, different range of talent. What is your process of going about reaching everybody in the room? I reach everybody as though they're great. As though they're Justin Jeffersons are, I mean, they'll tell you, I expect that from them. And in our room, it's an old saying, next man up. People around the league are like, oh, yeah, that's the old saying.

This is what, yeah, are you supposed to say? no, next man up in my room. Like, first thing I tell him, I said, we go three by one, three receivers over here, one receiver over here, and you're a single over here, and you can't win, you can't be in my room. Here point blank, I mean, you've got to be able to win one-on-ones in the National Football League.

So I teach them to be great just as if they were Justin Jefferson. I hold them to that standard, even though I, in the back of my mind, I might know he may never get there, but he may, in some ways, he may be better than Jefferson, Justin, and something. But I need him to think that he's Justin Jefferson. You know, think that he's Jerry Rice. Think that he's Randy Moss. You got to make those guys think that that's who they are.

Because you never know they can make, they, it made the switch may click and they get to that, that point in their careers. And I continue to develop them. know when I get them what they need to do to be that person. Because I've been around it so long. So I see it. Let me touch that with every single person in my room. It's a different thing that I touch with all of them. I just kind of fill them out.

I watch them. I mean, people tell you, I watch when I, for college guys, I go all the way back to their freshman year. and I just want to see the process of how they got better throughout their sophomore, junior, senior year, and see if they got better because I could see the freshman year what they need and see if they was working on it, working on it.

By the time they get to me, I can already tell them exactly what they need to work on to be a successful player in this league, and if you work a little bit harder, you can be a really good player in this league if you've got the talent. That's how I look at them. I love that you touched on that point because to me, when you're a coach of such a high profile position group and such a crucial position in general, have to know everything, every other position on the field, as you mentioned, especially in a scheme like this, you're contributing and run past everything. And for me, I think about how much that is and I think about how you're talking about the reaching the person and the development of the person.

How much of your job is also the psychology of what it is to exist in this, in this space, in this world, in this position? Did you expect it to be this much psychology as well? I did because I, because Coach Mann would, he was the best guy to play the game with you, play the mind games with you. He would, you know, just sitting back, he's talking to certain people. And I'm understanding, like, hey, why is he not saying that to me? And I think about it.

Maybe I know what I'm doing. and he's trying to get another guy to, he's talking to this guy to reach two other guys. And I kind of do that in my room, same way. I mean, I got to say he's probably one of the best, he's probably my, the best receiver coach I've had, you know, and I think it's not even a question because he taught me from when I was young. Then he, when I was young, he had me for four years, and then it came back, for three years as I grew when I left him and came back,

he saw that I grew. He saw that I kept the same, you know, just the same baseline stuff that he taught me and just added more to it. And I'll never forget it. I mean, he's been a big part of my life. He's a big part of the way I coached to. I have to ask, you've been generously through time.

Thank you. I have to ask one last follow-up on this because it's always something that just the process and the craft of it is so interesting to me. What is one thing that you know as an absolute truth about the craft of playing receiver

in the NFL at this level that you don't think fans maybe notice or something small, like technical thing that you think you really focus on or your guys really focus on that you don't think maybe is as visible to the public eye?

First and foremost, what people don't realize is that I don't think they realize that both receivers are all three receivers work together in a concept. And sometimes people are yelling, why is he not catching the ball? Why is he not doing this? Why not throwing the ball? It's because he's part of a concept where he has to do his job on the concept. Maybe it's to run off to get somebody else open. And they're like, why are they not throwing it to him? because he's not part of that read there.

I don't think people understand the quarterback reads or how it goes. You think as Madnay raised up and just throw it to Justin all the time, and we would love that. I know he would love that, but we have other guys on our team, and it's like a machine. We're working together. We're a family. We're a big family.

I always tell my guys, one time you're going to run off and Justin's going to catch the dagger or the next time Justin's going to run off and you're going to catch it. And you can't be mad when you're doing that for Justin or Justin's can't get mad because he's doing it for Jordan or doing it for Juan. And they work together. I don't think people understand that it's a machine and every piece of the machine has to do its job. And that's one of the big things in our room. We say, I make it real simple to my guys.

I say, you hear the call. you know the call and you got to go do your job that's all i ask you to do if you do that good things are going to happen well i appreciate that because uh i don't play fantasy football in fact i i quite dislike it and so for me i love conversations like this where we dig into a little bit more of how all the pieces work together and how all of the people work together and and contribute part to whole for for receivers who you know thrive off of getting targets and and and love this and they should. They're the elite competitors.

It's also so interesting to think about that push and pull and that balance that you have to strike always about parked to hole and contributing to the greater effort. And I think that you've described it very well here for us today. Thank you. This was Keenan McArdle. Thank you so much, Keenan for being on NFL Daily's power players with me today. Thank you, Jordan.

It was great. That was, of course, Minnesota Vikings wide receivers coach, Kenan McCartle. I just loved the way he talked about seeing the field as a canvas and every receiver painting with their own brush. Really, really artistic way of thinking about things schematically and, of course, as a teacher. Thanks again to Keenan for joining me today on NFL Daily's Power Players. And make sure you keep an eye on your feet because you got more football on the way.

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