Somehow, despite a defense that defined "bend" (second-most total yards allowed) and "break" (the third-most points allowed) guided by Ed Donatell, the Minnesota Vikings finished 13-4 and won the NFC North in Kevin O'Connell's first season as head coach.
A wild-card playoff loss to the New York Giants that year started the offseason fairly early. Donatell was let go, and Brian Flores was hired to be the Vikings' defensive coordinator after one season as the Pittsburgh Steelers' linebackers coach.
In Flores's first year as defensive coordinator, 2023, the Vikings were a top-10 run defense while taking notable steps otherwise. Last year, they led the NFL in takeaways and had the second-best run defense in the league, while allowing the fifth-fewest points.
The most notable schematic difference under Flores is this: the Vikings have led the league in blitz rate in both of his seasons running the defense.
Prior to the aforementioned season on Mike Tomlin's staff in Pittsburgh, Flores was the Miami Dolphins' head coach for three years. If not for an apparent refusal to tank in his first season (2019), he might still be the head coach there. Before that, he made his hay as a defensive assistant with the New England Patriots for several years.
Clock might be ticking on Brian Flores' time with the Minnesota Vikings
In a recent column marking 100 days until the start of the 2025 NFL season with 100 things of note, ESPN's Ben Solak gave Flores quite a compliment.
"For another year, the greatest non-quarterback competitive advantage in the NFL is that of Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. He is unquestionably one of the 32 (if not 20) best coaches in football and a clear and obvious head coaching candidate, if not for the fact that he is suing the league."
In parallel to his allegations he was incentivized to tank during his first season as the Dolphins' head coach, and alleging he was fired by owner Stephen Ross for not being willing to lose games, Flores also sued the NFL and multiple teams for discriminatory hiring practices.
Flores got three head coaching interviews in the 2025 hiring cycle, but that still-ongoing lawsuit (which seemingly hasn't progressed very much, more than three years in now) has surely been a barrier to him getting a second shot as a head coach.
Flores will get a second chance to be a head coach someday, based on....wait for it....how good a coach he is. The "someday" he leaves the Vikings to be a head coach may have already happened, not for his lawsuit against the league. But the time is coming, and it's time to get prepared for the possibility that Flores' third season in Minnesota will be his last.