Brian Flores is happy with his current job as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator, but he envisions sees a return to a head coaching gig in his future.
“Look, there’s only 32 of these jobs, so I would certainly want to be a head coach in this league again,” said Flores on the Adam Schefter Podcast, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
Flores was hired as the Dolphins’ head coach in 2019 and led them to a 25-24 record and zero playoff appearances before his firing after the 2021 season. Flores then spent the 2022 season as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach in Pittsburgh before taking the Vikings’ DC position in 2023.
The longtime Patriots assistant installed an innovative defensive system upon his arrival in Minnesota, dialing up blitzes at the highest rate in the NFL in 2023, per NextGen Stats. Flores mixed heavy blitzing with simulated pressures that saw potential pass-rushers drop off the line of scrimmage into coverage, forcing opposing quarterbacks to hold onto the ball longer. Though the Vikings were not a top-10 defense in Flores’ first year as DC, he has taken them to a new level in 2024, allowing just 17.4 points per game while forcing a league-high 20 turnovers.
Flores’ success in Minnesota could earn him consideration for a head coaching gig this offseason. Three recent vacancies have been filled by defensive-minded coaches: Jonathan Gannon in Arizona, DeMeco Ryans in Houston, and Mike Macdonald in Seattle.
Flores’ path to a head coaching gig is complicated by his ongoing legal dispute with the NFL as well as four individual teams. He filed a lawsuit against the league and the Dolphins, Broncos, Giants, and Texans in 2022 alleging racial discrimination in their hiring processes. While his case against the Dolphins – which included claims that owner Stephen Ross offered Flores extra money to tank for better draft picks – was moved to arbitration in 2023, his suit against the NFL and the three other teams will proceed in open court.
Two teams have already fired their head coaches this season: the Jets and the Saints. Flores’ experience with Ross in Miami may keep him away from another involved owner in the Jets’ Woody Johnson, especially considering the drama surrounding Aaron Rodgers‘ tenure in New York. Flores’ defensive prowess may be a better fit in New Orleans, where he could pair with up-and-coming offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, though the Saints would then risk losing Kubiak to another head coaching gig in the future.
I can definitely see Mark Davis eyeing Flores as a replacement for Antonio Pierce in Vegas. Flores building a defense with Crosby and Wilkins as the foundation, with Spillane and Moerhrig as range roamers, would be pretty nice to watch as Telesco attempts to rebuild the dumpster fire of an offense. Flores would also be a very “Raider” hire, since Davis is not a very hands-on owner when it comes to player personnel (not named Maxx Crosby).
All us Raider fans can do is dream of some kind of improvement for 2025.
I don’t think Antonio Pierce is going anywhere. Given his coaching experience, he is at least a three year commitment. Look no further than Dan Campbell and his vast coaching experience compared to Antonio Pierce as a template.
I think the Raiders are targeting an early pick on a QB. If that was to happen Pierce would be in place at least two more years, possibly three if they sit the QB to develop. Also, if you want to develop a QB it might not be the greatest decision to have Brian Flores lead that effort.
I’m not enthused by Pierce’s “development” of AOC to date. Given the struggles on offense, I don’t think a coaching change for 2025 will negatively impact the offense’s performance.
In regards to Flores developing a QB, that’s what you pay a good OC for.
He’s certainly on any short list for coordinator of the year this year.
Agreed. Bucs OC is a good one, but cant think of too many more lol
Brian Johnson has kept his name pretty hot.
Ben Johnson?
Whoops, yeah, meant to add Ben Johnson to my list below. He’s so consistently on the list that I forgot.
Yes, my mistake. Wish I could blame autocorrect. Take my upvote.
Liam Cohen would definitely be on my short list for coordinator of the year along with Flores. I didn’t like the hiring, but Kingsbury has done a great job. Jesse Minter is up there, too. Dennard Wilson has had an excellent first season. Todd Monken deserves recognition for what he’s done, as does Vance Joseph. I guess if we’re not including any head coaches, those seven guys are currently my list.
It’s a good list. I know that he has a star studded roster, and an absolute madman as a head coach who runs hot very quickly, but I did not expect Minter to do so well in his first professional season. He deserves some props.
I didn’t expect much from Monken, but he’s done quite well. I love seeing Wilson so well, too. He was always an intelligent and well prepared player. Joseph really deserves an incredible amount of respect. He’s got one legitimate star on that defense in Surtain, and since that awful Miami game, Denver’s defense has been great (Baltimore game being the exception). I think people are hesitant to endorse him due to his history as a head coach, but that defense is legitimate, and all while making its own stars.
Flores and Joseph have both elevated defensive rosters with creative and aggressive scheming. You’re right about Joseph. He didn’t look good as a head coach (which has a lot to do with Denver’s quarterback situation at the time), and that Miami game was an incredible lowlight, but this year’s been incredibly impressive.
I agree entirely.
Not completely sure why Flores couldn’t get another HC job. All he did was tell the truth and sued them for hiring every Lily White HC they could find while the others were left in the cold. I guess the truth hurt billionaires feelings. And he proved that the Rooney Rule is a joke and should be shoved back up where it came from on Rooney’s next colonoscopy. Which is probably weekly. If billionaires don’t want their feelings hurt sell the teams and stop whining. And the only bigger joke than the Rooney Rule is Goodell.
The Fins HC is half black, drop it.
Told the truth? He had so little to stand on it didn’t even make it to trial. Laughable.
This dude‘s a fake he got fired by the Rams, went to Kentucky got fired by them and beg for his job back with the Rams
That “fake” is doing great this year.
Most of the same dorks who are pushing for Flores to ” Take Accountability” Are the same clowns who are saying the Bears should have hired Jim Harbaugh. Now that’s funny! Notice anything about those 2 guys?
What a world we live in where you can sue your current employer and still expect to get promotion and raises….And yes spare me each team is it’s own entity blah blah i get it. It’s not just Flores and the NFL, many businesses like this these days.
Scarlett Johansson successfully sued Disney and still worked for them and their peers. It should be possible to seek accountability from the more powerful.
The NFL only resembles Disney when you watch the comic attempt of game officials to look unbiased when calling (or ignoring) penalties. The league also likes to nurse grudges as Daniel Snyder and Jon Gruden can attest. Flores has about as much chance as being hired as a HC again as Hue Jackson does.
First off, her lawsuit was about money. She was to receive a percentage of what the movie grossed. Disney instead did a limited theatrical release and then moved it over to Disney +. Therefore depriving her of profits she should have received.
That is nothing like the lawsuit Flores placed on the league because he didn’t get hired. Lots of coaches interview and never get hired, but he had to blame everyone else for his failure.
The Belichick text was pretty damning, and it seems likely Ross behaved improperly. I’m not saying it’s similar to the more clear cut Johansson case, but that suing for wrongdoing should not be a dealbreaker to employment. And he’s already been hired by an NFL team and is doing a fantastic job.
Rock, Flores was crying racism for money.
I don’t mean to say this with hostility, but accountability for what exactly? Flores has made it clear that his biggest argument for his firing from Miami was due to his refusal to tank for Ross, not because of his race. His complaint against Denver is that Elway allegedly showed up drunk to interview him. Flores insinuates that this is due to his race, but his arguments consist of different sets of facts. Does he have any direct comments or justifications for actions given by the defendants that point to his race being a factor, or is it all his conjecture?
I don’t think that you’re wrong, Oof, in saying that one should be able to seek accountability from bad actors no matter your status. Just being hired doesn’t vacate past actions. But Flores’ argument seems contrived. If he had alleged some sort of unjust firing that had to do with the facts that he presented, his argument would be much stronger. It seems more like Ross and Flores had some personal or strategic disagreements that led to his firing, and some of them to rightfully be in Flores’ favor. But Flores is claiming more than that. As it stands now, it’s pretty much his own conjecture that his race was behind it all.
Really, in my mind, if I’m hiring Flores, I’m not as worried about his suit as I am about the environment he supposedly created for his players. Tua is not an effusive guy, and though he didn’t call out Flores by name, what he said was concerning. This is especially true given the complete 180 he’s done under McDaniel. If I’m considering Flores, that’s my number one concern…plus how much investment the Dolphins put into that team just to produce a near .500 record. I see Flores’ upside, but I also am still hesitant.
The Belichick text and Elway’s drunkenness would suggest that these were bogus interviews they never intended to take seriously, meaning they were simply to flout the Rooney rule. I’m not saying Flores’ case ever had the best chance in the world, but that also doesn’t mean there wasn’t wrongdoing. Some transgressions are too hard to prove–especially when the people with the most power don’t want them to be.
Sure, but why sue the teams for complying with the rule, then? I doubt that they wanted to go waste time and money on a sham interview.
Of course, this is also assuming that Flores’ accusation against Elway is true. But for argument’s sake, if we believe Flores, then it is the NFL who is at fault for forcing teams to comply with this rule, not the teams themselves. Lawsuits often have “sham” parties added to see what sticks, I get it, but Flores could have put together a much better and more accurate case than he did, especially if he limited it to Miami and Ross’ pressure on him to do unethical things. Seemingly, it would also probably be less of a stretch factually.
We can stop there. I had more than my fill of Flores lawsuit discussion on here years ago. I was just rejecting the idea that someone should be unhireable in the league for having filed a lawsuit against an employer, especially when he’s currently employed and doing a fantastic job.
Fact: The only reason Flores was let go was because he went over the front office’s head to the owner and demanded to have the final say on all personnel decisions or he wanted out as HC of the team. His biggest reason for starting down this path is that he wanted to trade all those picks for Deshawn Watson, and wanted to dump Tua. The owner thought it over, and decided to stick with his front office over Flores. FYI, the Jewish “racist” owner, had all 3 of his top front office personnel, at that time, were African Americans(GM, assistant GM, and pro personnel director). He was given a choice, by Flores, of dumping 3 front office African Americans or one HC. The owner, also, had previously hired an African American HC, in Flores, that had never been even a coordinator before. He then hired another African American HC in McDaniel(who is as African American as Colin Kap). Flores didn’t get his way, so he pulled the race card, which is just sick, and detrimental to any minority in the future.
He then sued Houston, who hired a different African American HC than him, and has hired 3 straight African American HC’s, the last one, I believe, just won coach of the year. What another awful racist organization.
The Giants had already meet the stupid Rooney rule, so his interview was not to comply with that.
Denver may have just been interviewing him to comply with the dumb rule, but their only fault was “possibly” being classless by showing up for a token interview hungover. They had already decided who they were going to hire as their next HC, but still had to go thru the motions to comply with the rule.
So, he is suing the above 4 teams for being racist He is, also, suing the entire NFL, a league that is over 70% African American, for being racist. And, SOMEHOW, the guy is still employed in the league. I can say in these recent overcharged times, being publicly accused of racism, is almost equivalent to being accused of pedophilia, and if someone was suing and accusing me of being a racist or pedophile, I would never employ them in any endeavor again, regardless of their qualifications.
Yikes. I’m not going to respond to all the nonsense in this bizarre manifesto, but:
-Ross being Jewish has nothing to do with any of this
-The Texans hiring three Black coaches in three seasons isn’t exactly a great sign, and they only hired Culley because the Flores situation brought so much heat on them for wanting to hire Josh McCown, who had never coached at any level.
-The guy you say is “SOMEHOW” still employed in the league is having one of the best years of any coordinator in the game.
-That last paragraph is absolutely bonkers.
-Ross being Jewish does have nothing to do with it, just like Flores being African American has nothing to do with it. That is the point.
– You’re saying that the Texans “intentionally” hired a lessor candidate, in their opinion, to just zing Flores is beyond comical. I will await any proof you have now that this team is intentionally sabotaging their billion $ franchise just to mess with Flores.
– nobody said the guy can’t coach, but I don’t care if you can turn water into wine, I don’t hire people that are presently suing me over anything, especially something as extreme as being a racist.
– if you don’t realize the extreme impact on people being publicly accused and sued in this country over being a racist in this past decade, than welcome back from Gilligan’s island.
There isn’t one thing I said that isn’t the truth. Those are the known facts. Thanks for proving the point though.
He’s still employed because the league is, in fact, not racist. They’ve made more rich AA’s than any job in the world. Half of these dudes offer nothing to the real world other than playing football. It’s almost made for them.
You do realize that the Giants had already met the Rooney rule by the time they interviewed Flores, don’t you? They had already interviewed Leslie Frazier and Patrick Graham. Flores was all of a sudden departed from the Dolphins after they had interviewed 5 coaching candidates, and, basically, decided on Daboll. Flores becoming suddenly available so late in the process is why they interviewed him last of all the candidates(by far), and why his interviews DD’s were less than Daboll’s, who they had all but already decided was their choice.
All you did was prove my point…what a world lol
Prove what point? That a guy currently killing it as a coach should be unemployable?
If ( According to people who post here), That the Bears should have hired Jim Harbaugh no questions asked or him taking any accountability for HIS actions Should also be on board with the Bears hiring Flores , No questions asked. But something funny happened along the way. Flores supposedly has to and Harbaugh doesn’t? Let’s see what’s different between those 2 guys? Hmmmmm. And that Rooney Rule is the biggest joke in football, Besides Goodell. Yeah it might get some Minority coaches INTERVIEWED, But it’s surely not going any hired that weren’t going to get hired anyway. Another sham.
Excellent DC, but his work with Tua left a lot to be desired. I know Miami added pieces for Tua, but imo, Flores handled him very poorly.
First time head coach, a defensive coach, and for the cherry on top schooled in the Belichick/yesteryear world of break ’em down to build ’em up. Hopefully he’s learned from that experience and can bring a good up and coming offensive analyst or pass/run game coordinator from the KOC tree.
Wish he was still in Pittsburgh. If Tomlin stepped down, Flores would be one of my choices as next HC.
Tomlin is likely coach of the year at this point, and has been one of the most successful coaches in NFL history. Why would you replace him with Flores who actually sucked as a head coach. Some guys are good coordinators……like Flores.
I’d love to see him coach the Saints ⚜️
I shuddered when I read that idea. That might be just about the worst possible hire they could make, in my opinion. Flores is a great defensive coordinator; but I don’t think he is a Head Coach. He needs someone over him.
I look at the stuff with Tua and the way Flores handled him. It isn’t as if Tua comes off as a difficult personality to deal with, either; he seems to be a good guy. Flores ripped the man apart, though. That isn’t what a leader -or a decent human- does on the daily to try to bring the best out of someone. Flores didn’t get his way with the selection and he threw a tantrum, taking it out on Tua.
I know Flores has said he’s learned and grown from that; which sounds eerily similar to what Josh McDaniels said before he was run out of Las Vegas for making all of the same mistakes he made in Denver. I’m not saying people can’t change; I just don’t buy that Flores will. So, I’d prefer the Saints stay far, far away from Flores.
I have to agree with your assertion about Tagovailoa. The way that he was handled is a huge concern for me if I’m considering Flores as a hire.
My push is – many coordinators do not make good Head Coaches. Head Coaches need to oversee the entirety of the teams practices, meetings, play designs and execution, game management and flow while ensuring all the background components are properly organized and operated.
Coordinators generally focus on a singular aspect, in effect offense or defense, and their structural pieces toward a commonly defined criteria.
Just because an individual is a decent coordinator doesn’t automatically prepare or validate their ‘experience or expertise’ to the position of Head Coach.
The Rooney Rule is outdated and actually has little value. Whether team owners or Management has a bias regarding ‘race’ that rule can not categorically ensure minority (is that a valid moniker) hiring ensues.
Hiring coaches is akin to drafting players as you don’t know if success or failure will follow.
This guy can’t even complete a sentence without messing up. He’s extremely hard to understand when he’s talking when he was hosting a leadership class half the room had left by the time he was finished, nothing he said made sense. He went into some type of leadership is shown by the birds how they fly south during the fall.
Let’s put aside the lawsuit and racism claims and discuss his ability to build an NFL offense and staff. He shouldn’t be considered for a HC job based on the guys he hired as offensive coaches and the bum he wanted to trade for as his QB.
I wouldn’t even bring this guy in for an interview. What happens if I decide to go in a different direction, he sues me?
Yep, Flores has shown himself to be a difficult guy, willing to burn down the $20 billion house to get his own way. Lucky to be a DC at this point, and talking about being a head coach again.
That said, there are some really stupid owners in the NFL.
Hmmmmmm, Head Coach underachieves, gets fired (like many other coaches (black and white) then plays race card and sues the team …. he’s lucky to be a coordinator. No one will hire this guy to be a Head Coach again, you have to have trust, and this clown played the silly race card after being let go and embarrassed the team and the league. John Gruden would get a head coaching job before “cry baby” Flores ….
If it wasn’t for Tomlin throwing him a bone (shocker it was Tomlin btw….) he wouldn’t even be in the league.
And also Gruden should have gotten a job by now, an obvious witch hunt.
The dude came out, said everyone was racists, was proven wrong, and then now cries wolf he wants a HC job lol.