Report: Brian Flores lands second interview for Cardinals HC job, will also interview for Broncos DC job

NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Pittsburgh Steelers Senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach Brian Flores will be interviewing with numerous teams this week. Flores has spent one year in the role for the Steelers, and this week will be interviewing with the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos.

Flores is set to interview for the Broncos’ defensive coordinator position on Tuesday, fresh off of Denver recently hiring former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton by way of trade. And then the following day, on Wednesday, Flores will have a second interview with the Arizona Cardinals for their head coaching position.

The Cardinals and the Indianapolis Colts are the only two head coaching positions that are still vacant, as Arizona has been on the hunt for a new head man since firing Kliff Kingsbury on January 9 following a disappointing 4-3 season in his fourth year with the franchise.

Flores is also a top candidate for the vacant Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator job, and if he does leave Pittsburgh, will bring three years of head coaching experience and 11 years of assistant coaching experience to his destination.

More on Flores

Brian Flores played football at the collegiate level at Boston College as a linebacker from 1999 to 2002. As he transitioned from playing to coaching, he first served as a member of the New England Patriots scouting department. Flores was a Scouting assistant for the Patriots for two years and a Pro scout for them the following two years before transitioning into coaching.

Staying with New England, Flores would go on to spend over 10 seasons as a member of the Patriots coaching staff, serving in a variety of different roles over the years like special teams assistant, defensive assistant, safeties coach, and linebackers coach. He was on staff for four of New England’s Super Bowl victories, and the day after the Patriots 2019 Super Bowl he was announced as the Miami Dolphins 12th head coach.

He spent three seasons at the helm for Miami, going 24-25 as their head coach and putting together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in nearly 20 years for the Dolphins in 2020 and 2021. Flores was fired on January 10 of 2022 by the Dolphins, which was followed by him filing a class-action lawsuit against the NFL along with the Dolphins, New York Giants, and Denver Broncos for alleged racial discrimination during his interview process.

He was hired by the Steelers on February 19, 2022, and was a part of a Steelers defense that ranked top 15 in the NFL in scoring and yards per game.