Vikings DC Brian Flores Emerging As HC Candidate, But Has Major Questions To Answer

According to Jonathan Jones, the Vikings defense is drawing a ton of attention around the NFL as a key part of Minnesota’s 2-0 start, and that would normally mean positive things for DC Brian Flores and his chances of landing a head coaching job this offseason. 

However, Jones adds Flores’ candidacy could be impacted by serious concerns teams might have over lingering issues from Flores’ first stint as the head coach of the Dolphins, including his broken relationship with QB Tua Tagovailoa and his ongoing lawsuit against the NFL for racial discrimination. 

Flores was fired despite winning records in his final two seasons because of fractured relationships inside the building, including with Tagovailoa who this offseason called Flores a “terrible person” in contrasting the experience with him and current Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel. 

In a league where finding a quality quarterback and setting him up for success is paramount, that stigma could weigh heavily on Flores’ coaching prospects. 

“He’s a good coach,” one NFC executive told Jones. “Whether he’s learned from Miami power struggle/behavior would be key. The Tua stuff will be tough for him.”

Flores was not requested to interview for any of the league’s coaching vacancies this past cycle despite some intriguing work with Minnesota’s defense. This year, Flores’ scheme has seemed to take another step forward and the veteran coach is on the cutting edge of innovation on that side of the ball. 

The highlight of the Vikings’ 2-0 start so far was last week’s win over the 49ers, the second year in a row Minnesota has beaten San Francisco. Flores’ scheme was a big reason why and he has a strong record against the Shanahan-style offenses proliferating around the NFL. 

“[Shanahan’s] superpower is having the answer for everything. He can predict what the defense will do and manipulate the rules of the defense,” one evaluator who watched the 49ers-Vikings game told Jones. “Not that Flores’ scheme is unsound, but it’s not logical in a football sense. Offensive formations, shifts, motions don’t work. They don’t react like a normal defense would or how we’d expect.”

Assuming Flores’ defense can sustain its success, he should have a chance to interview for coaching vacancies at the end of the season. An NFL evaluator who knows Flores well tells Jones that Flores has learned a lot from his previous mistakes and is determined to convey that. 

“After meeting with a lot of coaches and front-office personnel and self-reflecting, he has a much better understanding of how players and people in general are wired now,” the evaluator said. “He has a better pulse on how to handle players from a mental standpoint. He will treat them all fairly, but he understands he can’t coach everyone the same way. He won’t make that mistake again.”

“Spending a year with Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh allowed him the opportunity to view everything firsthand from a very successful head coach who is a lot like him from a personality and background standpoint,” the evaluator added. “Seeing how Mike managed people while also keeping standards and expectations high was big for him. Brian won’t worry about small things that don’t affect wins and losses this time around.”

Flores, 43, began his NFL coaching career with the Patriots back in 2004 as a scouting assistant. He held a number of positions including pro scout, special teams assistant, assistant offense/special teams, defensive assistant, safeties coach and linebackers coach before serving as the de facto defensive coordinator in 2018. 

Miami hired Flores away to be their head coach in 2019 before firing him abruptly after the 2021 season. He caught on with the Steelers as a defensive assistant and LB coach, then was hired by the Vikings as defensive coordinator in 2023. 

In three years in Miami, Flores posted a record of 24-25 (49 percent) with no playoff appearances.

We’ll have more on Flores as the news is available.