The Minnesota Vikings have reportedly found a replacement for Ed Donatell as they will hire Brian Flores to be their new defensive coordinator.
A day after Ejiro Evero spurned the Minnesota Vikings in favor of the Carolina Panthers, the Vikings have reportedly made a decision about their defensive coordinator vacancy as they will hire former Pittsburgh Steelers senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach Brian Flores to run their defense next season, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Monday.
Brian Flores to reportedly become the new defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings
Despite Flores being a finalist to be the next head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, he has apparently decided to take his talents to the Twin Cities for the 2022 season.
It seems like he likely had a feeling that the Cardinals weren’t going to select him for the job, so he decided to take the opportunity with the Vikings instead.
Flores has been coaching in the NFL since 2008 when he was hired by the New England Patriots as a special teams assistant. He switched to the defensive side of the ball with the Patriots in 2011, and after experiencing success for multiple seasons, he was hired as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2019.
Flores’ tenure with the Dolphins only lasted three years, and shortly after his departure in the 2022 offseason, he was hired by the Steelers.
Minnesota fans can expect their defense to be much more aggressive next season compared to how things were run in 2022.
During Flores’ three seasons in Miami, his defenses blitzed on more than 31 percent of their snaps, including 40.8 percent in 2020. Under Ed Donatell in 2022, the Vikings had one of the lowest blitz rates in the NFL at 18.9 percent.
Minnesota doesn’t need Flores to come in and turn their defense into a top-five unit in 2023. If he can figure out a way to get the Vikings’ defense to at least be average next season, or even slightly above average, then his addition will likely be viewed as a success.