Brian Flores Reveals ‘Gut Feeling’ That Led Him to Turn Down HC Job for Vikings

Brian Flores was still in consideration for the Arizona Cardinals head coach position before he withdrew himself from consideration unexpectedly to take the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator position.

In his introductory media conference, Flores revealed it was a “gut feeling” that led him to Minnesota.

“There was still an opportunity with Arizona,” he said on February 15. “This was, you get a gut feeling, I think we’ve all kind of had those, that this was the place for me and my family, this was the right opportunity.”

Flores added that he believes that the Vikings have offered him an opportunity to grow as a coach.

“It’s funny. I was in church a couple weeks ago as this was all going on and the pastor, Brian Edmonds, in Pittsburgh, he said, ‘In life, there are instances where you can either have control or you can have growth. And you can’t have both,’ ” Flores said. “That hit me pretty good. I just felt like this was a great opportunity for growth.”

Flores embarks on what could be the toughest challenge of his coaching career, turning around a Minnesota defense that ranked 28th in points and 31st in yards allowed.

He’ll take on that task to counterbalance a Vikings offense that played more aggressively under first-year coach Kevin O’Connell, whom Flores took a kindred liking toward as both coaches share a football philosophy instilled in them during their time with the New England Patriots.

“I left out of here feeling like there was a shared vision,” Flores said, describing his feelings after his interview for the defensive coordinator position. “He’s aggressive offensively. I’m aggressive defensively. That kind of philosophy was aligned.”

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Vikings, Brian Flores Must Find Who Fits in Defense in a Hurry

Minnesota has to get its affairs sorted in a hurry if they’re going to have the ability to give Flores the resources he needs for a defensive rehaul.

The Vikings are currently $23.3 million over the salary cap and have several expensive veterans on the chopping block. The decisions surrounding who’s a fit with Flores and who goes will help create the necessary cap space needed to replace what could be as many as nine starters on defense.

Too often last season, the Vikings defense sat back and allowed offenses to take the small gains and march downfield. There was a lack of urgency as Minnesota banked on quarterbacks making a mistake reading zone coverage.

Flores, who called himself “aggressive by nature” in his press conference has a penchant for blitzing, posting blitz rates of at least 30% in all three seasons as head coach of the Miami Dolphins and a 40% blitz rate in 2020, per Pro Football Reference. Last season, the Vikings blitzed on 18.6% of snaps under Donatell in 2022, ranking 23rd in pressure rate.

“I’m aggressive by nature. Philosophically, that’s something that I believe in,” Flores said. “Yeah, by nature I like to be aggressive. Not reckless. There’s a method to the madness. There’s a rhyme and a reason, whether it’s down and distance, field position, etcetera.”

Flores didn’t give away too many secrets of his plans for the defense, but he teased that he intends to play more Cover 0 looks, a pre-snap package where there is no safety help in coverage and threatens to send as many as eight players into the backfield.

“[Cover] 0 gives people some issues. If you’re willing to give a Blitz 0 presentation and send them, they’ve got to prepare for it and have some answers for it,” Flores said. “It becomes a cat and mouse game. Is it zero? Or is it not zero? Anyway you slice it, you got to be ready for it.”

Cornerback will be the biggest priority in making Flores’ system work. There will likely be a move to either sign a free agent or select a cornerback high in the upcoming draft.

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Brian Flores’ Family Celebrates Vikings Job With Justin Jefferson’s Griddy

While Flores took plenty of consideration of his next job in the NFL during his interview process, the decision was “Minnesota and Minnesota only” for his two boys, Miles (age 10) and Max (age 9).

“They’re big Justin Jefferson fans,” Flores said. “So when we accepted the position, there was a lot of ‘Griddying’ going on.”

Flores also revealed that his 6-year-old daughter, Liliana, took her first steps on photo day for the 2018 Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium while Flores was an assistant for the Patriots.

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