When it was first announced earlier this month that Mike Pettine would be stepping down from his role as the Minnesota Vikings assistant head coach and retiring from the NFL, some were skeptical about the legitimacy of the retirement and wondered if the team forced him to leave.
Well, some recent remarks from Pettine are only going to add fuel to that skepticism.
During a recent appearance on the "Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show," the former Minnesota coach was asked if he had any thoughts to share about current Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
"Probably not many that I would prefer to share. I mean, we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things, and that's why I spent this past year on offense. I was there 24 and 25, or 23 and 24 on defense, so I'll take the high road on that one.”
Did the Minnesota Vikings force Mike Pettine out in order to retain Brian Flores?
At 59 years old, Pettine is not at the age that many would consider "old" as a coach in the NFL (new New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh is 63). So, when Minnesota announced his retirement, something seemed a bit off.
We might now why it felt that way based on Pettine saying he and Flores "didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things." So much so that Pettine, a longtime defensive coach, switched to working primarily on the offensive side of the ball for the Vikings this past season.
Was their relationship, or lack thereof, part of the reason why it took so long for Minnesota to re-sign Flores to a new contract this year? Did he force the Vikings to pick between him or Pettine?
Whatever happened, Minnesota made the correct choice since Flores will return for at least one more season to lead a defense that has ranked among the best in the NFL in each of the last two years.
There have been rumors floating around during the last few weeks that Flores isn't the easiest person to work with, and it now seems possible that Pettine might have been the one sharing that information.
Regardless, the Vikings were clearly willing to do whatever it took to bring Flores back, and Pettine's departure might have been a result of that.