The Minnesota Vikings are 10-2, tied for the second-best record in the NFC and third-best in the NFL.
That success is sure to bring new changes and challenges.
One of those potential changes that could result in significant challenges is defensive coordinator Brian Flores getting another opportunity to be a head coach. Vacancies could spring up for multiple teams, but ESPN name-dropped Flores in connection to two openings.
“Would the Jets take a look at Flores, since a stronger hand might appeal to ownership? Would he appeal to the Bears, who’d be weakening a division rival if he could sell them on his ability to bring in the right offensive coordinator for [Caleb] Williams?” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote on December 4. “I think Flores is a good and interesting candidate on several levels.”
Vikings head coach has long raved about Flores’ on players like All-Pro safety Harrison Smith.
Both the Bears and the Jets entered the season with playoff hopes. And while neither team finds itself on that path 13 weeks into the season, one team at least has its quarterback of the future.
The Bears drafted Williams No. 1 overall. He has played well despite multiple coaching changes, losing his offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, and then his head coach, Matt Eberflus with five games to go.
They do have Thomas Brown acting as interim head coach.
He will be under consideration for the job, but there will be an extensive search during the offseason.
The Jets have a talent-laden defense. They also have an interim head coach in place in Jeff Ulbrich. But they have a 40-year-old quarterback in Aaron Rodgers and will face other roster questions in the spring.
Flores Faces Potential ‘Tough Obstacles’ in HC Job Search
Graziano noted that, despite Flores’ strong resume from his two years with the Vikings alone, the coach could face “tough obstacles” thanks to the “very specific” questions about him. He questioned whether his lawsuit against the NFL turned previously interested teams off.
“It’s tough to say with Flores, because of that lawsuit,” Graziano wrote. “I know the Giants liked him a lot when they hired Brian Daboll three years ago, but the extent to which the Giants’ process was implicated in the lawsuit rubbed that organization the wrong way, so I wonder whether those fences could be mended.
His college, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, expressed similar sentiments.
However, Fowler also noted another obstacle Flores must overcome to land his next shot at running a team.
“I’m fascinated with Brian Flores,” Fowler wrote. “He has turned Minnesota’s defense into a force, his players support him and he has taken steps behind the scenes so that he’s ready for his second chance (the NFL was very impressed in Flores’ leadership in helping younger coaches during last offseason’s accelerator program, for example).”
“His discrimination lawsuit against the NFL can’t exactly be dropped as far as I know (he’s not the only plaintiff on the class-action suit),” Fowler wrote.” And whether fair or not, Tua Tagovailoa‘s bashing of Flores is still fresh in peoples’ minds.”
Flores expressed remorse over how his interactions with Tagovailoa went and said that he has grown since then.
Replacing Brian Flores Could Prove Tricky for Vikings
The versatility of Flores’ scheme means the Vikings have players that could fit into various defenses. The question is how many of them would fit into the plans for a new defensive mind should Flores move on.
Flores took the Vikings’ defense from 28th in scoring (under his predecessor Ed Donatell) to 16th in one season and to the No. 5 unit in another.
The potential drop-off could happen quickly and getting back on track could be just as tricky.
