Jaguars 2025 head coach candidate profile: Vikings DC Brian Flores

For the third time in five years, the Jacksonville Jaguars are searching for a new head coach.

Big Cat Country’s Jaguars head coach hiring process tracker is constantly being updated — but to provide more information on the top candidates being interviewed, we’ll be releasing in-depth profiles throughout the search.

Other head coach candidate profiles:

• Lions OC Ben Johnson
• Buccaneers OC Liam Coen
• Eagles OC Kellen Moore
• Ravens OC Todd Monken
• Lions DC Aaron Glenn
• Bills OC Joe Brady
• Former Jets HC Robert Saleh
• Raiders DC Patrick Graham

Next up: Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, and former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, whom the New York Jets, the Chicago Bears, and the Jaguars have all requested interviews with.

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Experience

After starting his football career as a linebacker at Boston College in 1999, Flores at age 23 would begin his NFL career as a scouting assistant for the New England Patriots in 2004. After a promotion he would become a professional scout for the team through 2008, when he would take on his first NFL coaching role as the special teams coaching assistant. The promotions would continue in New England through the 2018 season when he would eventually move from defensive assistant, to safeties, to linebacker's coach. All said and done, Flores would leave New England with four SuperBowl rings in five appearances and the honor of calling defensive plays throughout his final season that featured the lowest scoring SuperBowl in NFL history - a 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

Flores was then hired by the Miami Dolphins to be their head coach in 2019. After a rocky 5-11 rookie season as head coach, he would lead the dolphins to a 10-6 record in his sophomore year. However, despite reaching 10 wins, they would not make the playoffs. The following season the team would go 9-8 again not making the playoffs, though achieving the Miami Dolphins’ first back-to-back winning seasons in 17 years. Flores was then fired by the Miami Dolphins after the season, with a later NFL investigation conducted into Dolphins owner Stephen Ross for impermissible communication with both head coach Sean Peyton and quarterback Tom Brady during Flores’ employment.

After his time in Miami, Flores would take a role with the Pittsburgh Steelers as their senior defensive assistant and linebacker's coach in 2022, then secure his current role as the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings in 2023. After his initial season where the team would rank 13th in points surrendered, Flores' unit would improve to fifth in 2024.

2022 Lawsuit

Per a lawsuit subsequently filed by Flores after his termination, he and the rest of the class sued the NFL, the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos, and the Miami Dolphins for racial discrimination in hiring practices. Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that Flores was pressured by Ross to lose games for better draft picks throughout his tenure and pressured to meet quarterback Tom Brady illegally in an attempt to lure him to Miami. Instead, per the lawsuit, Flores would achieve those two winning seasons despite ownerships’ requests, resulting in his quick dismissal. The Miami Dolphins portion of the lawsuit was then forced into arbitration in 2023 and is still ongoing, as the remaining class action disputes continue in court separately.

Performance

2024 Vikings defense

Points allowed per game: 19.5 (5th)

First downs allowed per game: 19.1 (9th)

Yards allowed per game: 335.4 (16th)

Yards allowed per play: 5.3 (24th)

EPA per play: -0.091 (2nd)

Success rate: 41.3% (5th)

Passing defense

Total touchdowns allowed: 37 (7th)

First downs per game allowed: 12.8 (29th)

Yards per game allowed: 242.0 (28th)

Yards per attempt allowed: 6.0 (9th)

EPA per play: -0.035 (2nd)

Success rate: 44.0% (5th)

Rushing defense

Total touchdowns allowed: 12 (7th)

First downs per game allowed: 19.1 (9th)

Yards per game allowed: 93.4 (2nd)

Yards per attempt allowed: 4.1 (4th)

EPA per play: -0.203 (1st)

Success rate: 35.8% (3rd)

Situational offense

• Early down EPA per play: -0.077 (3rd)
• Early down success rate: 41.2% (5th)
• Late down EPA per play: -0.138 (4th)
• Late down success rate: 41.6% (6th)
• Touchdown rate in the red zone: 59.2% (18th)

Quotes

Top 10 NFL Head Coaching Candidates for 2025

From Alex Kennedy with ProFootball Network (Jan. 2025)

Unlike many members of Bill Belichick’s coaching staff, Flores has shown the ability to adapt his scheme to his current surroundings. For example, the Patriots traditionally played high levels of man coverage, which Flores brought to the Dolphins. Miami played the highest level of man coverage in the NFL (50%) during Flores’ head-coaching tenure from 2019-21. However, the Vikings have played man coverage at the fourth-lowest rate (18%) during Flores’ two seasons in Minnesota. He’s managed to turn man coverage into an effective change-up pitch without relying on it, as the Vikings average the second-highest EPA per play in man coverage since 2023.

Bears Reportedly Request Interview With Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores

From Luis C. Medina with Bleacher Nation (Jan. 2025)

One of the reasons things did not end well with Flores in Miami is because of how he handled the Tua Tagovailoa situation. Maybe Flores has learned some things regarding how to handle quarterbacks from Kevin O’Connell. If so, then I think Flores is worth interviewing. Even if Brian Flores doesn’t have the perfect plan for offensive success, I’d still want to hear his pitch — if only because I think it would be enlightening to hear him talk about his defensive philosophy.

Vikings’ Brian Flores - it would take ‘right situation’ to accept another head coaching job

From Emily Leiker with The Minnesota Star Tribune (Jan. 2025)

He said when he left the Steelers in 2022, after one season as linebackers coach, he was looking to work with an offensive mind like Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell to expand his knowledge about that side of the ball. “I can bounce questions off him and kind of pick his brain from an offensive standpoint, and he does the same thing with me, so it’s been a great kind of marriage,” Flores said. “I don’t want to leave without saying it’s been fantastic here in Minnesota. It would have to be the right situation for me to leave.”

Ranking top NFL head coach candidates for 2025 openings

From Dan Graziano with ESPN (Dec. 2024)

Beyond the lawsuit, there are also lingering questions about some of his relationships from his time in Miami, most prominently the one involving him and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa has spoken publicly about some of the issues he had with Flores. People who have worked with and played for Flores in Minnesota have said that Tagovailoa’s comments don’t line up with their experience, and it’s certainly possible things would be different if he gets a second chance to be a head coach. He’s going to have to convince teams that will be the case.

How the Vikings’ Defensive Scheme Under Brian Flores Works

From Warren Ludford with The Daily Norseman (Oct.2024)

Flores has blitzed on 40.8% of drop backs- second-highest rate behind Denver- most often sending just one blitzer along with two defensive tackles and two edge rushers. Overall, the Vikings have generated a quarterback pressure on 38.3% of drop backs- 8th best in the league.

Apparent pluses

• Prior head coaching experience in handling a rebuild, with a winning record. After taking over an Adam Gase Miami Dolphins team that went 7-9 in 2018, Flores would lead Miami to its first consecutive winning seasons since 2003. In his worst season, he was 5-11, however finishing 5–4 after beginning the season 0–7 during the 'Tanking for Tua' campaign.

Brian Flores:

2019: 5-11

2020: 10-7

2021: 9-8

Mike McDaniel:

2022: 9-8

2023: 11-6

2024: 8-9

• An extensive resume of near-immediate improvement on the defensive side of the ball at every single stop.

- Flores took over as the Patriots’ defensive play-caller in 2018 following the departure of Matt Patricia and saw New England jump from 27th in EPA per play to seventh.

- Flores’ Dolphins defense ranked 30th in EPA per play in his first season in 2019, but it jumped to fourth in 2020 and finished sixth in 2021.

- Flores’ Vikings defense ranked 20th in EPA per play in his first season as defensive coordinator in 2023 but ranked second in 2024.

• A schematic mastermind who would be able to instill a culture of physicality and aggressiveness across the organization.
• Versatile as a play caller. He has shown an ability to create a defense fit for Jacksonville's specific personnel, to improve the Jaguars' 31st ranked defense by heavily shifting his coverage and alignment profiles based on the different personnel.

Lingering questions

• Performative or legitimate interviews? One of Flores' primary questions is what impact, if any will the current litigation have on his future coaching prospects? Would NFL owners truly be willing to allow him a second opportunity to coach or are the current requests for interviews simply a public relation move during his ongoing lawsuit and arbitration?
• Relationship with offensive players. Let's face it offensive guys and defensive guys simply operate differently (normally). Most defensive coaches are generally uber-aggressive, while many offensive coaches often gentler in their style or communication - primarily in coaching up the quarterback room and skill positions. With the allegations of some conflict between his two Miami Dolphins quarterbacks, will Flores be able to effectively coach to the offensive players in a way that they hear? Has he learned from that experience and his time in Minnesota?

• Would someone with a scouting background and experience like Flores be able to work with Trent Baalke in building the roster or would their personalities, roster opinions, or scouting preferences clash? Baalke is known to have his certain guidelines about what players he would be willing to draft (IE: arm length, hand size, athletic profile, etc). Whose philosophy would win the day when push comes to shove?

Tony Wiggins for Locked On Jaguars recently made a pretty incredible sales pitch for Brian Flores that provided full context to his time in Miami, while also not discounting any past allegations of discomfort by players. As he summarized on Twitter, "give me a mean winner over a comfortable loser." It is definitely worth a listen.

Jaguar fans, how would you feel about Flores in Jacksonville? Let us know in the comments!