If not for an ongoing hiring discrimination lawsuit against the NFL that he is the face of, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores would probably already have gotten his second chance to be a head coach. Even with that, there's an argument that that opportunity should have already come.
In the meantime, the Vikings will happily employ one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL for as long as they can. Credit to Kevin O'Connell for firing Ed Donatell after his first season as head coach and hiring the philosophical opposite in Flores.
In each of Flores' three seasons, the Vikings have been a top-10 defense in at least one category. They've been top-10 against the run twice, top-10 in points allowed twice, and top-10 against the pass once. In 2024, they led the league in takeaways.
Flores also differentiates himself with a blitz-heavy, adjust at the last possible second scheme that puts opposing offenses in a blender.
Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores belongs higher in recent NFL ranking
CBS Sports recently polled 12 of its NFL analysts to rank the top 10 offensive and defensive play callers in the league. Points were tabulated as each analyst ranked play callers, with 10 points for each first-place vote down to one point for a 10th-place vote.
O'Connell comes in at No. 8 on the offensive side of the ball, and it's a foregone conclusion that Flores would rank highly among his peers on the defensive side.
Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald was the unanimous choice as the No. 1 defensive play caller, with all 12 first-place votes. As noted in the praise for Flores, Nos. 2-5 were closely clumped together.
"After Macdonald, defensive play-callers No. 2-5 were separated by a mere nine points, so if we're tiering them, Flores really belongs in Tier 2, even if he finished No. 5 overall. In fact, Flores received two second-place votes and three third-place votes.
Flores' uber-aggressive scheme -- the Vikings led the NFL in pressure rate last year --rattles many a quarterback from the get-go."
So where did Flores land? No. 5 feels fine until we see all three who landed higher in that closely contested four-man cluster.
2. Steve Spagnuolo, defensive coordinator, Kansas City Chiefs
3. Jesse Minter, head coach, Baltimore Ravens
4. Vic Fangio, defensive coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles
The resumes of Spagnuolo and Fangio speak for themselves to explain their place in the ranking. But let's just go ahead and say it.
Minter is not the third-best defensive play caller in the NFL heading into this season. Two years as the Los Angeles Chargers' defensive coordinator, preceded by two years as defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan, do not make that case at all.
Yet somehow, he landed just one point behind Spagnuolo with a high ranking, perhaps from multiple of the analysts who were polled, of No. 2.
In fact, taking the entirety of the ranking into account, Minter's resume barely makes a case for him to be in the top five. He surely does not belong above Flores, or even Fangio for that matter. The conversation starts at No. 5, if it should even start there.
The next ranking of NFL defensive play callers should be based on a poll of peers, where you can't vote for yourself, of course, or a poll of the league's offensive play callers. Then we'll know where Flores really sits among the top defensive minds in the league, from those who would know best.
Add us as a preferred source on Google