The Minnesota Vikings believe that defensive coordinator Brian Flores will return to the team if he doesn’t land one of the NFL’s nine head coaching openings, but developments on Wednesday, January 14 indicate that assumption isn’t necessarily true.
Flores has already interviewed to become the Baltimore Ravens‘ next head coach. And according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN, he has accepted two other interview requests — one to become head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and one for the open defensive coordinator position with the Washington Commanders.
“That makes 2 HC interviews — Baltimore and Pittsburgh — and 1 DC interview (Washington) for Brian Flores,” Seifert reported on X. “Remember, Flores spent a year with the Steelers in 2022 in between his firing in Miami and his hiring in Minnesota.”
Seifert also noted in a separate post that Flores’ decision to accept the interview request from the Commanders represents a break from something that Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell recently told media members about his DC of the past three seasons.
“Kevin O’Connell has said repeatedly, as recently as yesterday, that he anticipates Brian Flores returning to Minnesota as defensive coordinator unless he gets a HC job. But here we are,” Seifert wrote. “Flores wants to see if he can uncover any better options. No other way to read this.”
Brian Flores Showed Indications of Desire to Leave Vikings Prior to 2025 Season
GettyDefensive coordinator Brian Flores of Minnesota Vikings.
Flores has been successful in Minnesota, where O’Connell has afforded him a good amount of influence over the team’s defensive player personnel and given Flores the freedom to operate the unit in unique and largely effective ways.
That said, Flores telegraphed a potential desire to leave Minnesota as early as last offseason when he declined a contract extension offer.
“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Vikings are currently working toward extending his deal,” PFT’s Mike Florio wrote December 27. “The Vikings wanted to do it before the 2025 regular season. Flores decided to wait. If he was betting on himself, he won.”
Vikings Have Some Deficiencies That Could Factor Into Brian Flores’ Final Decision
GettyDefensive coordinator Brian Flores of the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota’s desire to bring Flores back and the DC’s competing desire to fully explore all of his other options could indicate a potential rift between the two sides.
Any guess on what that rift could be would be pure speculation absent new reporting. However, there are a few obvious flaws with the organization at this point in time.
The Vikings failed to staff the secondary with enough horses in 2025, and the team also appears to have made a misstep in rolling with JJ McCarthy as its starting quarterback absent any real alternatives — a mistake they have openly addressed and publicly stated their intentions to fix without committing to McCarthy’s status as QB1 or a reserve in 2026.
Minnesota also heads into the offseason with a salary cap deficit of almost $44 million as of Wednesday, which will make roster building more difficult. And it is unclear how much the Vikings offered Flores in terms of annual salary and whether he could get more from a team like Washington.
The one obvious draw to a new situation is the opportunity for Flores to become a head coach again after the Miami Dolphins fired him in 2021 following three years at the helm in South Beach.
But it is Flores’ willingness to explore DC jobs outside of Minnesota that raises the collective eyebrow and leads to examinations as to the possibilities of why he might want out.
Brian Flores Accepts 2 New Interviews, Counters Kevin O’Connell Prediction