Minnesota Vikings coordinator Brian Flores is proving that coaching can make all the difference on defense.
Inheriting a defense that ranked tied for 28th in points and was 31st in yards allowed last season, Flores has been behind a resurgent Vikings defense that has led the team out of an 0-3 start to the season. Despite losing Justin Jefferson and Kirk Cousins for the majority of the season, Minnesota holds a playoff seat approaching a Week 12 matchup with the Chicago Bears. The defense has led the charge, ranking 14th in points allowed and 12th in yards while allowing 21 or more points just three times since Week 3.
Flores is making the most of a defense that lost integral veterans — Za’Darius Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson, Patrick Peterson and Eric Kendricks — by building up young players who have developed dramatically throughout the season.
It was seemingly an impossible task, but Flores has passed with flying colors and the rest of the NFL has taken notice.
After Flores’ head coach candidacy in 2022 seemed to be impacted by an ongoing lawsuit against the NFL, The Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora wrote that the suit wouldn’t impact Flores’ head coaching prospects after his work with the Vikings this season.
“[The suit] shouldn’t prevent the former Dolphins coach from getting another shot,” La Canfora wrote in a story published November 25. “He has done stellar work with the Vikings as they have adapted to his heavy blitzing preferences, Minnesota pass rusher Danielle Hunter is wrecking games again, and that unit has gotten consistently better. Flores surely learned from some of his missteps with the Dolphins, and if the Vikings make the playoffs, his work will be impossible to ignore.
“Let’s say there are seven or eight jobs,” an agent who does not represent Flores said, according to La Canfora. “You’re telling me there are seven or eight coaches with a better résumé than his? He’s doing a great job there.”
Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Addresses Brian Flores Buzz
Courtesy of the Minnesota VikingsVikings coach Kevin O’Connell said he’s not surprised by the buzz Brian Flores is garnering ahead of 2024 head coach hirings.
Though the prospect of losing the man behind the Vikings’ defensive turnaround is daunting, it’s a possibility that was not lost on head coach Kevin O’Connell when he hired Flores this past year.
“Selfishly for me, that was one of the big reasons I was so excited about bringing Flo in here,” O’Connell said in a November 22 news conference regarding Flores’ head coaching experience. “From a leadership standpoint, from a player development standpoint, from his understanding of situational football, him and I are constantly meeting and talking about that.”
Since arriving in 2022, O’Connell has made it a point of emphasis to surround himself with former head coaches to help him as he embarks on his first opportunity to helm an NFL team.
And although the defense’s transformation has surprised even O’Connell, Flores’ buzz as a head coaching candidate has not.
“He has surpassed what even I thought could be possible in Year 1,” O’Connell said. “He is incredibly bright, he is somebody that I trust completely. That does not surprise me [that he is getting head coaching buzz]. That was my expectation when I brought him in here, that he would do what he has done with our defense… not a surprise to me that the league is taking notice with the quality of a coach and man that he is.”
Josh Metellus Among Vikings Role Players Rising to New Heights
Courtesy of VikingsJosh Metellus of the Minnesota Vikings
Flores’ restoring Pro Bowlers Harrison Smith and Danielle Hunter to their former glory days comes as little surprise, but what he’s done with some of the team’s role players has been the difference this season.
Safety Josh Metellus was primarily a special teams player before this season. The Vikings were high on his taking another step in his career, signing him to a two-year, $13 million contract, but Flores has helped make that signing worthwhile for Minnesota.
Through 12 games, Metellus leads the NFL with 17 quarterback pressures as a hybrid safety/linebacker in Flores’ scheme. He grades as the 29th-ranked safety by Pro Football Focus in a special role that Flores envisioned for him.
“He watched a couple preseason games from last year when I was playing safety and one of the first things he told me was that he thought I should have been playing more last year,” Metellus said, per BringMetheNews. “I’m like, ‘Damn, I don’t know what he’s seeing, but it must have been good.’ He has a knack for it, and he’s bringing out the best in all of our guys.”
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