Minnesota Vikings hire sought-after Brian Flores as defensive coordinator after interviewing for Cardinals head coach job … as he continues his revival following a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL
The Minnesota Vikings plan to hire Brian Flores as defensive coordinator after a month-long search to replace former coordinator Ed Donatel according to ESPN.
Flores spent last season as the Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers coach/senior defensive assistant.
He’s about to take over a defense that finished 31st in the NFL in yards allowed and is likely to undergo significant personal changes during the offseason.
Before spending a year with the Steelers, Flores spent several years as the head coach for the Miami Dolphins, where he was known for running a blitz-heavy scheme that called for a lot of man coverage in the secondary.
That would essentially be a complete 360 from the scheme the Vikings used under Donatell, who preferred to use only his front four to rush the passer while dropping the rest of his defense back into zone coverage.
Former Steelers senior defensive assistant and LB coach Brian Flores named Vikings DC
Before spending a year on the Steelers’ staff, he spent three seasons as Miami’s head coach
During his tenure as the Dolphins head coach, Flores had a 24-25 record and saw them improve from 5-11 in his first year to 10-6 in his second and 9-8 in his third.
After being fired by Miami, despite back-to-back wins, he was considered a front-runner to quickly land a head coaching position with another team, until he filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and the Dolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants claim racial discrimination. The case remains tied up in the court system.
Among Flores’ allegations were claims that Dolphins owner Steven Ross offered him $100,000 per loss to help the team tank in 2019 and claims that the Broncos and New York Giants brought him in for “fakes.” interviews simply to satisfy the Rooney Rule.
Before being announced as the coordinator for the Vikings, Flores was among the finalists for the Arizona Cardinals coaching job with Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.
Anarumo and Kafka were both said to be among the finalists for the Cardinals job with Flores