Key Kevin O’Connell Assistant Takes Step Towards Leaving Vikings After Playoff Loss to Rams

The Minnesota Vikings 2024 campaign came crashing down in the wild card round, as they suffered a discouraging 27-9 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams. As a result, changes to Kevin O’Connell’s coaching staff could be made, and one guy who may already be on his way out of town is defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Among the things that went right for Minnesota this season was their defensive play, and Flores led their staggering turnaround. After a failed stint with the Miami Dolphins as their head coach, Flores turned himself back into a top head coach candidate for the several vacancies across the NFL this offseason thanks to his time with Minnesota. While one of Flores’ former teams, the New England Patriots, already hired Mike Vrabel to be their new head coach, several other teams are interested in Flores. On Thursday morning, it was revealed that he has interviews lined up with the New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Chicago Bears over the next few days.

“A big few days loom for Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, one of the top candidates. He has 3 head coach interviews set up: — Jets on Friday. — Jaguars on Friday. — Bears on Saturday,” Ian Rapoport reported in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Jets and Bears are interviewing seemingly every candidate who is available, so it’s not much of a surprise to see them show interest in him. The Jaguars, meanwhile, could opt to hire a defensive-minded coach after the offensive-minded Doug Pederson got himself run out of town in 2024.

As one of the top candidates in this head coaching cycle, Flores could end up landing a gig with one of these three teams. However, it will be worth keeping tabs on him over the next few days to see if any positive details emerge from his talks with these teams.