Brian Flores as the Minnesota Vikings’ biggest offseason addition. This may surprise some people. The Vikings had some challenges as they tried to upgrade their team for the upcoming 2023 season. They had a cash-strapped salary cap, and they entered the NFL Draft with only five picks.

Still, they were able to acquire a quality starting cornerback in Byron Murphy. They also added a valuable blocking tight end in the person of Josh Oliver.  And Marcus Davenport and Dean Lowry will help shore up a sagging defensive line.

Great things are expected from first-round draft pick wide receiver Jordan Addison. The struggling secondary will be bolstered by the additions of Mekhi Blackmon and Jay Ward. Jaquelin Roy will add some toughness to the interior defensive line. And quarterback Jaren Hall and running back DeWayne McBride might be the stars of the future Vikings backfield.

As important as these additions are, the biggest offseason addition for the Vikings won’t be found between the white stripes. This addition will be found on NFL Sundays standing very close to head coach Kevin O’Connell. He will be calling the plays for a defense that hopes to take a big step forward this year. Brian Flores is the team’s biggest offseason addition.

Brian Flores is a Big Addition to the Vikings

Flores comes to the Vikings with a wealth of knowledge and experience. After playing linebacker at Boston College, he joined the New England Patriots at age 23 as a scouting assistant. He spent four years in the Patriot’s scouting department eventually becoming a pro scout. He was hired onto coach Bill Belichick’s staff in 2008 as a special teams assistant.

He spent the next eleven years on coach Belichick’s staff, including stints as their safeties coach and as their linebackers coach. In 2018, after their Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Flores took over defensive play-calling duties for New England after Matt Patricia left to become the head coach of the Detroit Lions. He was however not named the team’s defensive coordinator at this time. Instead, he retained his current title of linebackers coach.

A year later after the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, Brian Flores received his big break. On February 4, 2019, he was hired as the 12th head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He was in high demand that year as he had also interviewed for the Cleveland, Denver, and Green Bay head coaching positions.

Brian Flores Becomes a Head Coach

Brian Flores

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (1) – Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Photo

Alas, his stay in Miami was short and filled with career highs and lows. Flores led the 2019 Dolphins to a 5-11 season. The only highlight of that season was an upset road win over the Patriots 27-24 on the last weekend of the NFL regular season.

After starting the 2020 season 0-2, Brian Flores began to turn the Dolphin’s team around. They reeled off five straight victories including a blowout of the defending NFC Champions, the San Francisco 49ers defeating them 43-17. Riding quarterback Tua Tagavailoa’s hot hand, the Fins finished with a 10-6 record including signature upsets of the Los Angeles Rams and the Patriots once again. Miami missed the playoffs that year after a season-ending loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Entering the 2021 season, the Dolphins and their fans were brimming with anticipation. For not only had they found their franchise quarterback, but Brian Flores had also engineered a rebuild of Miami’s previously porous defense. The season started on a high note with another defeat of the Patriots at Foxboro. Then, the bottom fell out of the Dolphin’s season.

In Week 2 of the season, Tagavailoa suffered a rib injury that would force him to miss the next three games. Jacob Brissett was inserted as the starting quarterback, and he struggled as the team went 0-3 with him as the starting quarterback. Even when Tua returned to the lineup against Jacksonville, the deluge would continue. Miami suffered three more losses before finally defeating the Houston Texans in Week 9, 17-9. Brian Flores was on the hot seat.

The Ship Sinks in Miami

And although Miami went 8-1 to finish the season and finish with an overall record of 9-8, it was not enough to save Brian Flores’ job. On January 10, 2022, the Dolphins announced that they had fired Flores after three seasons. This despite back-to-back winning campaigns and beating the Patriots in their two meetings that season. Rumors circulated that owner Stephen N. Ross was in pursuit of Sean Payton to be the next Miami head coach.

Ross and the Dolphins forfeited two draft picks for inappropriate contact with Payton while Flores was still Miami’s head coach. Ross also served a six-game suspension for this infraction. And Flores sued the NFL, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and Miami Dolphins for discriminatory hiring practices. The suit also alleges that Ross asked Flores to lose games so the Dolphins could improve their draft position. This suit is pending arbitration.

Fortunately for Flores, shortly after the season ended, Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers hired him as their senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. After the Steeler’s defense improved to the 10th best in the league in 2022, the NFL came calling. And on February 6. 2023, the Minnesota Vikings announced the hiring of Flores as their new defensive coordinator.

Brian Flores Comes to Minnesota

NFL: New York Jets at Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings S Harrison Smith (22) – Matt Krohn/USA TODAY Sports

What does a Brian Flores defense look like? A Flores defense is aggressive and puts a premium on pressuring the quarterback. He likes to employ a bevy of defensive backs to play in your face, man-to-man coverage. It’s a blitz-friendly defense, which should make Vikings’ safety Harrison Smith very happy. Last season under defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, they blitzed infrequently, robbing the team of one of its most effective pass rushers.

Brian Flores has a tough task ahead of him. He must rejuvenate a defense that last year was predictable and lacking a big play element. Not to mention that due to a salary dispute, star edge, Danielle Hunter may not even be on the roster come fall.

But Flores has been successful at every one of his NFL stops. I’m betting that Flores lights a fire under the Purple defense and that they once again become a dominant and feared unit.