Steelers assistant Brian Flores accepts Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator job

After spending last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is leaving the franchise. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Steelers’ former assistant coach will now become the Minnesota Vikings’ new defensive coordinator.

“Steelers’ assistant coach Brian Flores is accepting the Vikings’ defensive coordinator job, per source,” wrote Schefter via Twitter.

The former Dolphins’ headman also interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Denver Broncos for their coaching openings. The Colts and Cardinals are still the only two NFL franchises yet to fill their head coach vacancies. It was recently reported that Flores was still in the running for the Cardinals head coach opportunity. But instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop, he has decided to take the defensive coordinator role with the Minnesota Vikings.

Flores spent one year in Pittsburgh as the Steelers’ Senior Defensive Assistant and linebackers coach. Before that, he spent three years as a Dolphins head coach with a record of 24-25. His split with Miami garnered national attention after he filed a class action lawsuit against the Dolphins, the NFL, and several other franchises for alleged racial discrimination.

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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 win 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.