Brian

Flores

The Vikings made the announcement Wednesday that they signed Flores to an extension. The 44-year-old led the Vikings defense to back-to-back top-10 finishes by points allowed. He was interviewing for both defensive coordinator and head coaching jobs this offseason, but now guarantees a return to Minnesota if he cannot land a head coaching role. Flores is still in the running for the Steelers and Ravens head coaching vacancies, though he will get more time to build the Vikings’ defense if he does not get hired this coaching cycle.

Flores has long been considered a potential replacement for Mike Tomlin, and will now have a chance to meet with the team he spent the 2022 season with under Tomlin. The former Dolphins head coach has spent the last three seasons as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator, and over that span, elevated the defense from one of the worst in the league to being a top-10 unit. In addition to fielding head coaching requests from the Steelers and Ravens, Flores has also met with the Commanders to discuss their defensive coordinator vacancy. If he’s unable to land a head coaching job, the option to return to Minnesota remains on the table, but Flores is in high demand after turning in one of his strongest years as a coordinator to date.

Flores also has an interview with the Steelers lined up. Flores’ contract with the Vikings is up, meaning he is free to interview and sign anywhere this offseason. The Vikings are reportedly trying to sign him to a new deal, so he may wind up back in Minnesota despite being a highly-coveted defensive mind. Flores also has a head coaching interview lined up with the Ravens. We would expect him to take any head coaching job he is offered. Flores has been the Vikings’ defensive coordinator for three seasons. They are coming off back-to-back years with a top-10 defense. The team’s lowest finish by points allowed under Flores is 13th.

Busy day in the Brian Flores mines. This is the only head-coaching interview Flores has had thus far. He’s obviously more-than-qualified after a mostly-successful run with the Dolphins, but his impending lawsuit with the NFL has kept him from getting the kind of interview totals he likely deserves. The Vikings finished third in defensive DVOA last year and were second in 2024. It’s hard to come up with a better recent resume for any defensive mind who is actually available to interview.

It’s unclear if the Commanders have formally requested an interview with Flores, whose Minnesota defense terrorized opposing passers and allowed the NFL’s third lowest EPA per play in 2025. In Washington, Flores would be taking over a talent-bereft defense that was among the league’s worst against the rush and the pass in 2025. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said Tuesday that the team would be “very aggressive” in retaining Flores for 2026 and beyond.

The Vikings are reportedly working on a new contract for Flores, one of the game’s best defensive minds who headed a Minnesota defense that allowed the league’s third lowest EPA per play in 2025. Flores, who once served as Dolphins head coach, could be a head coaching candidate for some of the teams looking to hire in the coming days and weeks. The Commanders are in talks with Flores about their defensive coordinator vacancy. It appears the Vikings are ready to do whatever it takes to keep Flores for 2026 and beyond, however.

As things currently stand, we are “two weeks from the open market.” Two weeks is a short time period, but things can move quickly in the NFL. Just yesterday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that “various high-level executives” believe Flores will “most likely be a candidate” for a head-coaching job this offseason. The Vikings would surely love to keep their brilliant defensive coordinator, who schemes up bamboozling blitzes on a weekly basis. The Vikings’ 62.8 percent blitz rate leads the league by 19.9 percent and their 44.3 percent QB pressure rate leads the league by 2.0 percent.

His lingering litigation against the NFL for discriminatory hiring practices has not stopped teams from realizing he runs a great defense. Flores interviewed for the Bears head-coaching job last year, and was also requested to interview by the Jets and Jaguars in the carousel. Despite several injuries and a (quarterback-driven) bad offense, Flores’ Vikings enter the final week of the regular season fourth in defensive DVOA.

Stefanski certainly couldn’t be blamed for wanting to exit Cleveland after another season spent coordinating a dead-on-arrival offense hamstrung by Deshaun Watson’s contract. Especially after he didn’t appear to be on Andrew Berry’s page about giving up Joe Flacco to the Bengals in a midseason trade. As we hit silly season, Stefanski’s status will be one of the more important dominoes to watch. Hughes also mentions as names to watch for the job: Packers DC Jeff Hafley, Rams OC Mike LaFleur, Eagles OC Kevin Patullo (??), Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo, Vikings DC Brian Flores, Former Raiders HC Antonio Pierce, and Texans DC Matt Burke.

The Bears have not been shy about their coaching searches this offseason, with Flores now the second coach interviewed for their head coaching position from within the division. Flores has been linked to three different franchises already as the coaching cycle begins to take form, previously interviewing with the Jets and Jaguars.