NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

• Lane DE Andrew Farmer spoke with the Bears at the HBCU Combine. (Justin Melo)
• Going into the Scouting Combine, TCU G Steve Avila has had extensive meetings with four teams already, including the Bears. Avila participated in the Senior Bowl. (Ryan Fowler)

Lions

• Lane DE Andrew Farmer spoke with the Lions at the HBCU Combine. (Justin Melo)

Vikings

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell wanted a defensive coordinator who had an approach that closely resembled his own and settled on DC Brian Flores after a long interview process after finding that the two had a similar mentality.

“I’ve gone through a really thorough process of so many ways that I’ll be better for our team,” O’Connell told Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “I want the closest … resemblance to my personality as the head coach of this team to be articulated in how we play. And I think Brian coming in here will give not only the similar football backgrounds and philosophies but also just the mindset of being ultra-competitors and trying to win that football game each and every Sunday, however, by any means necessary.”

“As we got into just random questions throughout the interview process, I kept on hearing things where our football foundation and philosophies are very, very similar,” O’Connell continued. “And it doesn’t matter if you’re talking offense or defense, special teams. Time and time again, characteristics of not only our team but maybe my personality, how I want our team to be coached, just kept coming out in a real organic, natural way. And that was a really positive thing for me.”

“There’s a great opportunity for me personally and professionally to grow [and] to be around Kevin,” Flores said. “I know he’s known as an offensive coach but in that meeting, he [showed] he can coach defense, too. I’ll tell you that right now.”

“I like to be aggressive. Not reckless,” Flores noted. “There’s a method to the madness. There’s a rhyme and reason, whether it’s down and distance, field goal position, etc. But, I think it’s not about me or Kev. It’s about the players. It’s about their ability to execute. It’s about our ability to teach and coach and put them in the right positions and get them doing things we think they can execute. And we’ll do our very best to do that.”