Vikings DC Brian Flores hasn’t been requested to interview for any head coaching jobs, and the answer is staring us in the face

Brian Flores hasn’t been requested for any head coaching interviews, and that may not change until January 14th.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores against the Los Angeles Rams during an NFC wild card game at State Farm Stadium.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores should be the hottest head coaching candidate on the market right now, but not a single team has called him for an interview.

It’s a fascinating discussion when it comes to Flores. He’s arguably the best defensive coordinator in the NFL, with only Vic Fangio on his level, but there is the lingering lawsuit Flores filed against the NFL for their hiring practices after the 2022 coaching carousel. It’s been a major hindrance to Flores getting a coaching job.

Even so, Flores has interviewed for other head coaching jobs before, including nearly getting the Arizona Cardinals job in 2023, but he passed on that, and Jonathan Gannon was hired. Last year, Flores was essentially ignored for head coaching interviews. That’s happening this year again.

Why Brian Flores isn’t getting head coaching interview requests

Why is this year different than the previous three years, with the lawsuit lingering over Flores? Well, this time is different, as Flores’ contract is expiring. The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling reported Flores’ contract expires 10 days after the final game of the season on Jan. 14th.

The Minnesota Vikings have less than a week to get Flores re-signed to a contract before he becomes a free agent. That is key here, because they could be waiting for that reason. It also begs the question: why wait until his contract expires? There are a couple of potential reasons.

First, it’s a long process, and teams have only started requesting teams for interviews, while some haven’t begun. It’s not out of the question that teams aren’t waiting, but rather haven’t made the call yet.

The other and more likely scenario is that teams are waiting for his contract to be resolved. This could be for multiple reasons, but the biggest being that teams will use head coaching interviews simultaneously for the coordinator positions. They can’t discuss the coordinator jobs until the contract expires, and it could be why he’s been waiting.

Now, it could still be that the lawsuit is slowing things down, which the majority of teams would use as a disqualifier, especially the New York Giants, as they are a co-defendant. No matter what the reason, Flores deserves a chance to be a head coach, and it should come sooner rather than later.

Until then, a return to the Vikings will become more and more likely, and that’s a good thing.

Editors note: Reports surfaced two hours after publishing that the Baltimore Ravens planned to interview Brian Flores for their head coaching vacancy.

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