The Minnesota Vikings may soon be on the search for a new defensive coordinator to replace Brian Flores.
There’s only three games left in the season for Minnesota, a team that finds themselves officially eliminated from playoff contention. This could also mean that we will be seeing the final three games of the Brian Flores defensive mastery in the Twin Cities.
There’s been plenty of talk about Flores and his potential of getting a head coaching job while he awaits the conclusion of his lawsuit with the NFL. However, Flores could leave Minnesota without that head coaching job coming to fruition.
“An interesting name to watch this coaching cycle is Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. As the Minnesota Star Tribune first reported and I can confirm, Flores is in the final year of his contract with Minnesota as the Vikings play out the string on a lost season.
Flores has gotten a couple interviews for head-coaching jobs since his lawsuit against the league alleging discrimination, but he hasn’t been a finalist anywhere. If six-to-eight head-coaching jobs open, as has been the case the past several years, Flores has the resume to get looks again.
…even if he is not a head coach this next cycle, one would think he’d be a coach’s top candidate for defensive coordinator should he ultimately leave Minnesota.”
It would be easy to understand if Brian Flores wanted to leave the Twin Cities for a head coaching gig. Being a head coach in the NFL is the mountain-top of coaching jobs in the sport of American football.
However, Flores making a parallel move and signing on with another team for just another defensive coordinating job might leave a sour taste in the mouth of the Vikings’ faithful.
As covered last night, the Minnesota Vikings lost safeties coach Michael Hutchings to the University of California. The deal sees Hutchings becoming defensive coordinator for the Golden Bears, leaving a hole in the Vikings’ defensive coaching staff (potentially for Harrison Smith?).
If Flores were to leave on top of Hutchings, then the Vikings would have some work to do on the defensive coaching staff. This could mean that the Vikings’ defensive unit as a whole could look a lot different next season in terms of pure playstyle.
Flores would be welcomed back to Minnesota with open arms if a contract extension is offered, but only time will tell the end to that story.
