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MaroonBells · Yesterday, 10:42 AM

(12-29-2025, 04:10 PM)greediron Wrote: Just because he would run the same system doesn't mean he would have the same results. One think I noticed about Zimmer and now Flores, they are always a step ahead. They are innovators on the defensive side of the ball. Each season is a new season and they have their adjustments, wrinkles, outright changes that keeps them ahead. This year it was having Harrison calling audibles on the field.

No, of course not. However, the idea of turning over the defense to a Flores guy who would likely keep much of the same concepts is far more appealing—scratch that, far less terrifying—than bringing in a new DC with a completely different scheme. Obviously, keeping Flores is choice #1.

greediron · Yesterday, 12:03 PM

(Yesterday, 10:29 AM)purplefaithful Wrote: Yah, no guarantees...

Unless something really funky is going on behind the scenes, or he gets a hc offer, my $$ is on his return to MN.

Someone mentioned BFlo and the Raiduhs - that would seem like a great fit tbh. Big glitch being I'm not sure they want to raise their family in sin city

Not sure why that seems like a great fit. Other than a roster mostly devoid of talent, isn't Crosby a traditional 4-3 DE? So their best player doesn't fit his scheme? Dunno, just doesn't seem like a build it from scratch guy.

purplefaithful · (This post was last modified: Yesterday, 05:56 PM by purplefaithful.)

Flores’ three-year contract with the Vikings expires after the season, and the possibility of Flores leaving at the end of his contract has been on the Vikings’ radar for nearly a year.

A source said this past spring that the defensive coordinator could decide to bet on himself and let his contract expire before signing an extension, taking the chance to truly assess his market after three seasons of strong on-field results in Minnesota.

He’s now just two weeks from being able to do that. Coaches are typically free to talk with other teams 10 days after the end of their current team’s season, which would mean Flores could discuss defensive coordinator jobs with other teams starting Jan. 14.

“I love Minnesota. I love this team. I love working for and with ‘KO,’” Flores said Tuesday. “He’s been fantastic to me. I think the Wilfs are some of the best owners in the league. I love these players, the coaches. This place has shown me a lot of love, and I show them right back.

“And so I don’t know how much more there is to it. From a football standpoint, it fits. There’s always a, let’s call it a business part of this. But the football all lines up. We’ll just see where it all goes.”

After three seasons of exemplary on-field results for the Vikings defense, the team and its 44-year-old defensive coordinator have reached a crossroads. Does Flores want to be a head coach again? Do the Vikings want to make a commitment that could put him at or near the top of the NFL’s defensive coordinator pay scale?

On Monday, O’Connell said, “I absolutely want Brian Flores to be the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings as long as we can have him,” adding his contract discussions with Flores “go back a long ways” and the two have had “very good dialogue” about it recently.

O’Connell said Monday he hoped he would be announcing a new deal for Flores soon. But while the coach said he didn’t anticipate Flores being the defensive coordinator of another team next season, he said, “I also know we’re [down to] days before our season ends” and Flores could talk with other teams.

Flores could have signed an extension before this season and still interviewed for head coaching jobs this winter. The fact he didn’t means he’s close to being a free agent in the coordinator market, too.

The Vikings are fifth in the NFL in yards allowed and eighth in takeaways this season, after leading the league in takeaways while finishing fifth in points allowed last year. In terms of expected points allowed per play, the Vikings defense is fifth in the NFL this season, after finishing 17th in 2023 and improving to second in 2024.

Defense winning games
And despite the fact they’ve started three quarterbacks who have combined to throw a league-high 21 interceptions, the Vikings are a game away from finishing above .500. On Thursday, Dec. 25, the Vikings’ 3 net passing yards were the fewest by an NFL team in a win since 2006. They forced six turnovers and knocked the Detroit Lions out of the playoff race in what offensive coordinator Wes Phillips called “one of the more inspired defensive performances I’ve ever seen on a football field.”

”[It is] pretty obviously the reason we won that football game, with us not giving them anything cheap [on offense],“ Phillips said.

”But those guys played out of their minds, and it was just great to see late in the season, with not a whole lot on the line, per se. For those guys to come out and play the way they did was just great to see. From a coaching perspective, to ‘Flo’ and those guys, I just tip my hat to what they’ve been able to do with that group.”

His time in Minnesota has been a football renaissance of sorts for Flores after a four-year stretch in which the former New England assistant became Miami’s head coach, lost his job, claimed in a lawsuit that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross had offered him money to lose games on purpose, and sued the NFL alleging racial bias in the league’s head coaching search process.

A season with the Pittsburgh Steelers connected him with Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, introducing Flores to the pressure and coverage scheme that helped him remake the Vikings defense and reignite his career in Minnesota.

Philadelphia’s Vic Fangio is reportedly the NFL’s highest-paid defensive coordinator at $4.5 million per season; Flores could leverage the Vikings’ performance into a deal that puts him in that range. From his relationship with O’Connell and input on personnel decisions to the autonomy he enjoys on defense, he appears to be in an enviable situation in Minnesota.

The fact he’s two weeks from the open market, though, means the Vikings would have to make him a competitive offer to keep him from it.

He could receive interview requests for head coaching jobs again, a year after he interviewed with the New York Jets, Jacksonville and Buffalo. His innovative approach has inspired copycats around the NFL, and it figures teams will want to learn about what he has done in Minnesota and what he could do in charge of their teams.

Will teams come calling?

Flores’ head coaching candidacy, though, would be about more than his work as a coordinator. He would have to answer questions about how he would work with a quarterback, after Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s criticism of his leadership style, and show he’s the proper fit as the face of a franchise, capable of setting a standard across the entire organization.

“There are only 32 of those jobs, and to be talked about is an honor from that standpoint,” Flores said. “If those opportunities present themselves, I’ll talk to my family, talk to my agent, and we’ll kind of move forward from there.”

A defense full of veterans means major offseason decisions, including whether safety Harrison Smith will retire and whether the Vikings will keep high-priced pickups like defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. Flores said assistants like defensive backs coach Daronte Jones and inside linebackers coach Mike Siravo are future coordinators in the NFL. If Flores left, the Vikings would have to decide whether one of those assistants could continue his scheme or whether they would have to remake the defense again.

They have known for months about the looming deadline for a decision on Flores. With that deadline approaching, the Vikings and Flores will see how much they want to substantiate their commitment to one another.

“I know him, and just from our recent dialogue, I know he feels very similar about me that I do with him,“ O’Connell said. ”Hopefully I can come to this podium [soon] and say he’s going to be here for as long as we can keep him before another team makes him their head coach.”

Strib

medaille · Yesterday, 05:31 PM

I don’t think it’s very likely that Flores switches teams for a DC position. Like, what would be the point? If it’s money, why wouldn’t we just pay that amount of money? If it’s for resume padding, is there any place better than here? This year is probably the exception, but once KOC gets the offense playing at his normal level or close to it, we’ll be back to putting pressure on teams to keep up and that works very synergistically with his defense. I think the last place he’d want to go is a place that sucks both on offense and defense. I think the most likely thing is that he’ll go out, do interviews, maybe get an offer, and use that to set a floor for his value here, and if he gets a HC offer, he’ll probably accept it if it’s a good team and reject it if it’s one of the teams that destroys people’s careers. Like if Pittsburgh gave him an offer, he’d probably accept it. If Oakland gave him an offer, F that.

MaroonBells · Yesterday, 06:11 PM

(Yesterday, 05:31 PM)medaille Wrote: I don’t think it’s very likely that Flores switches teams for a DC position. Like, what would be the point? If it’s money, why wouldn’t we just pay that amount of money? If it’s for resume padding, is there any place better than here? This year is probably the exception, but once KOC gets the offense playing at his normal level or close to it, we’ll be back to putting pressure on teams to keep up and that works very synergistically with his defense. I think the last place he’d want to go is a place that sucks both on offense and defense. I think the most likely thing is that he’ll go out, do interviews, maybe get an offer, and use that to set a floor for his value here, and if he gets a HC offer, he’ll probably accept it if it’s a good team and reject it if it’s one of the teams that destroys people’s careers. Like if Pittsburgh gave him an offer, he’d probably accept it. If Oakland gave him an offer, F that.

Agree, I don't see that happening. In fact, I think it's kind of insulting for a team like the Cowboys to suggest they can get him to be their new DC. He'll get some HC interviews and maybe he'll get an offer. But that's the only way I see him moving on. The Wilfs aren't cheap. I don't see another owner giving him more money for a lateral move.

Florio said a couple days ago that the Vikings wanted to extend him a year ago, but that he wanted to wait. "He bet on himself and he won." BIG.

greediron · Yesterday, 06:16 PM

(Yesterday, 06:11 PM)MaroonBells Wrote: Agree, I don't see that happening. In fact, I think it's kind of insulting for a team like the Cowboys to suggest they can get him to be their new DC. He'll get some HC interviews and maybe he'll get an offer. But that's the only way I see him moving on. The Wilfs aren't cheap. I don't see another owner giving him more money for a lateral move.

Florio said a couple days ago that the Vikings wanted to extend him a year ago, but that he wanted to wait. "He bet on himself and he won." BIG.

yes he did. I wonder if he has determined that he is better off as a DC? He has a pretty sweet gig in MN and can write his own history really.

purplefaithful · Yesterday, 06:51 PM

(Yesterday, 06:16 PM)greediron Wrote: yes he did. I wonder if he has determined that he is better off as a DC? He has a pretty sweet gig in MN and can write his own history really.

He'd probably get Fangio type $$ ($4.5mm/per.)

Maybe more with an Asst HC Title?

It's never been formally released, but I believe KOC is in that $12-$13mm range per season

medaille · Yesterday, 08:33 PM

(Yesterday, 06:16 PM)greediron Wrote: yes he did. I wonder if he has determined that he is better off as a DC? He has a pretty sweet gig in MN and can write his own history really.

I think he's probably got one more HC job in his future. Most coaches aren't getting 3+ HC gigs, so he's probably going to be picky in choosing the right landing spot. Combined with the lawsuit, and most HC jobs being subpar conditions, I don't think it's a given that he'll have multiple prime opportunities every year.

Dudes 44 years old. He's got plenty of time, so no point jumping into a bad situation.

I think the Bengals would be a thought provoking option though. Not a great organization, history of losing, but Flores + Burrow would be a great combination. Just get an OLine and let Flores sort out the defense with whatever scraps he can find.

*JimmyinSD* · 3 hours ago

Are his assistants on D set to he FA as well? If so at least one could likely follow him out the door as his DC if he were to get a HC gig, likely the same one we would want to replace him.

MaroonBells · 13 minutes ago

(3 hours ago)JimmyinSD Wrote: Are his assistants on D set to he FA as well? If so at least one could likely follow him out the door as his DC if he were to get a HC gig, likely the same one we would want to replace him.

It's possible. But I would think an assistant's career would be much better off as DC with the Vikings than following Flores, where he'd just be a figurehead like George Edwards was with Mike Zimmer or Wes Phillips as OC under KOC.