Former Vikings assistant reveals shocking detail of 2025 season involving Brian Flores

Mike Pettine said everything in an interview after retiring while barely saying a word.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Jan 5, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Vikings Assistant Head Coach / Outside Linebackers Mike Pettine talks to players on the bench during the first half of the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
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There were a lot of questions surrounding Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores ahead of the extension he signed on Wednesday. Rumors were swirling about his future, with reporters hinting at tension in the building with Flores and others. While the hints were there, nothing concrete was ever reported.

Now that Flores is back with the Vikings as their defensive coordinator, it’s about moving forward both from a personnel and coaching standpoint. The Vikings already have a couple of coaches they need to replace on both sides of the football.

Mike Pettine drops bombshell about Brian Flores

One of the coaches that the Vikings need to replace is Mike Pettine. He joined the Vikings as an assistant head coach in 2022 and spent four years with the team under head coach Kevin O’Connell, including adding outside linebackers coach to his title after the 2024 season, taking the role left by Mike Smith, who left the Vikings midseason in 2023.

He joined the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show to talk about his career, and dropped a bombshell nugget that we didn’t know: Pettine didn’t coach on defense this season.

“Probably not many that I would prefer to share,” said Pettine when asked about his thoughts on Flores. “I mean, we didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, and that’s why I spent this past year on offense. I was there ’24 and ’25 or ’23 and ’24 on defense. So, you know, I’ll take the high road on that one.”

The outside linebackers coach moving over to work on offense is quite a surprise. Now, it’s not the craziest thing to have a defensive coach working on offense, but it’s certainly noteworthy and something that O’Connell hinted at in April.

There have been many individuals who have been outspoken about Flores from his time with the Miami Dolphins, like Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Fitzpatrick. However, this is the first time we’ve heard anyone talk negatively about him with the Vikings.

Due to the vague nature of Pettine’s comments, they could mean a multitude of things. One thing is for certain: it’s not all sunshine and rainbows with the Vikings.

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