Defensive coordinator Brian Flores seems likely to stay with Vikings

It appears the Vikings will have Brian Flores back as their defensive coordinator for a third season.

However, two Vikings assistants continue to interview for promotions.

Flores, who interviewed with the Jets, Jaguars and Bears earlier this month, appears set to stay in Minnesota for the 2025 season after all three teams hired head coaches last week. New York, Jacksonville and Chicago chose their new head coaches within a week of talking to Flores, who interviewed virtually, per NFL rules.

One of Flores’ top assistants, defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Daronte Jones, interviewed with the Jaguars on Monday for their defensive coordinator opening.

Jones, who has worked four of the past five seasons with the Vikings, also talked this weekend with Chicago about the coordinator job under new Bears head coach Ben Johnson.

Assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski interviewed virtually with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday for their offensive coordinator opening. Udinski hasn’t turned 30 yet, but he’s already talked with the Bucs and Seahawks about a potential promotion after three years in Minnesota.

Flores’ deal with the Vikings runs through the 2025 season.

O’Connell has supported Flores’ head coaching prospects, saying in a December interview he thought teams would be “really smart” to talk to Flores about a head coach job.

“Absolutely [you worry about losing him],” O’Connell said. “But it’s a byproduct of success. I’d love to have this current group of coaches together for every day I possibly coach here. But I also know that wouldn’t be fair to them.”

Flores has talked glowingly about working with O’Connell, whose leadership he said reminded him of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, and said coaching the Vikings defenders was one of the most enjoyable jobs he’d had in his career. Flores has found a home in Minnesota, as well, and talked in December about how the defensive coordinator job provided him more time to spend with his three kids (ages 11, 10 and 7). “There’s a little window here,” he said.

It’s been a rebound for Flores, who went 24-25 in his previous stop as Dolphins head coach from 2019-2021. He didn’t leave on good terms with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who last summer called Flores a “terrible person” for how he was treated. Flores, 43, said in August that he had since reflected and found there were things “I could do better.”

Flores, who is Black, filed a lawsuit in February 2022 against the NFL alleging discrimination played a role in his firing in Miami as well as allegations of discriminatory hiring practices by the New York Giants and Denver Broncos. That suit has not yet been settled.

In the second year under Flores, the Vikings defense led the NFL in takeaways (33) and interceptions (24) while finishing fifth in points allowed and giving up the second-fewest rushing yards in the NFL. Flores is a finalist for the Associated Press’ NFL Assistant Coach of the Year award, which will be announced before the Super Bowl at the NFL Honors show in New Orleans.

When O’Connell hired Flores to replace Ed Donatell, he empowered the coordinator to pursue a more aggressive scheme. Flores, who’d been known for his pressure packages in New England and Miami, paired those with zone coverages he’d learned from Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi while the Steelers shared a facility with the college, creating a system unlike any other in the NFL.

The scheme helped the Vikings improve from 28th to 13th in points allowed from 2022 to 2023, and Flores oversaw a set of defensive changes before the 2024 season that led to the Vikings signing Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman, as well as key role players like Jihad Ward and Kamu Grugier-Hill, before the season. In August, Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore reunited with Flores in Minnesota, signing a one-year deal with the Vikings to become a key starter in the team’s secondary.