Brian Flores is ready to return to the NFL’s coaching search, three years after his difficult firing as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
As he finishes his second season as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator, Flores said Tuesday that he will take any interview that comes his way. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported that two teams have already requested interviews: the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets.
Flores also expressed interest in the open head coach position with the New England Patriots, where he spent the first 15 years of his NFL career. He explained some of the ways he believes he has grown, especially in how he would handle an offense compared to his time in Miami.
“It’s an honor, certainly, that I definitely don’t take that lightly,” Flores said about receiving interview requests. “I look forward to having those conversations and talking to people about my football journey, my leadership journey.”
Flores, 43, interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs in 2022 after the Dolphins fired him but received no offers. He later sued the NFL and several teams, claiming discrimination in his interviews with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants and in his firing by the Dolphins.
The NFL took away the Dolphins’ 2023 first-round draft pick and imposed other penalties following an investigation into tampering claims raised in Flores’ lawsuit. The lawsuit is still moving through the legal system and the NFL’s arbitration process.
In the lawsuit, Flores accused some NFL teams of conducting “sham interviews” to comply with the league’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview multiple candidates from diverse backgrounds. When asked on Tuesday if he would try to determine if the interview requests are genuine or just for rule compliance, Flores did not directly respond.
“I plan on taking them all,” he said. “I plan on sitting down and having conversations with any team that’s interested in talking to me about that position.”
According to NFL rules, the Jets or Bears can only interview him after the Vikings’ wild-card game Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams. Flores, however, made it clear that he is interested in the Patriots’ head coach job, should owner Robert Kraft decide to speak with him.
“I mean, we’re talking about going home where it all started,” he said. “So I think that’s a place that’s definitely a special place. In talking about my football journey, that’s where it started. So I would say yes [to questions about his interest]. But at the same time, it’s not up to me as to whether or not they would want to talk to me or anything like that.”
Flores has strengthened his defensive reputation during his time with the Vikings. In their 14-3 regular season, the Vikings’ defense ranked second in defensive EPA, tied for first with 33 takeaways, and tied for fourth in sacks with 49.
After spending the 2022 season as a defensive assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Flores said he purposely sought positions with offensive-minded head coaches like the Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell.
While in Miami, Flores’ offenses ranked eighth-lowest in scoring (19.9 points per game). His failure to develop a relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made headlines this summer when Tagovailoa called Flores a “terrible person” in a podcast interview.
“I was fortunate to come here with [O’Connell], who is one of the best in the business,” Flores said. “And watch how he schedules, how he works with the quarterback, how I could bounce questions off him and kind of pick his brain from an offensive standpoint, from his standpoint, from how he sees, how he views offense. So it’s been a great kind of marriage I would say.”
“That’s part of that growth, kind of seeing different ways to do it, taking all that information in, tweaking some things from my standpoint, from a leadership standpoint and applying it and seeing if it works. And I think I like what I’ve seen so far as applying some of those things and what it’s looked like specifically this year.”
Flores has frequently mentioned this season how comfortable he feels in Minnesota and how his family has adjusted to the community. Before ending his weekly meeting with Minnesota reporters Tuesday, he reiterated that his time there has been “fantastic” and added, “It would have to be the right situation for me to leave for me, myself and my family.”
