With lawsuit against NFL still pending, Brian Flores joins Vikings with desire to continue ‘to teach’

Chris Tomasson, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read
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Brian Flores will continue coaching in the NFL while his lawsuit against the league and three teams is pending.

Flores, who was named the Vikings’ defensive coordinator on Feb. 6, filed a class-action suit last February against the NFL, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos alleging racial discrimination. The suit was filed after Flores, who is Black, was fired by the Dolphins in January 2022 with a 24-25 record in three seasons as head coach. The other teams were named due to incidents Flores alleged came up in interviews for head coach.

Filing a lawsuit did not prevent Flores from wanting to return immediately to the NFL, and he spent last season as Pittsburgh’s senior defensive defensive assistant and linebackers coach.

“Specific to the lawsuit, I’m not going to dive too deep into it,’’ Flores said Wednesday. “It’s ongoing. Professionally, I’m a coach. I’m a teacher. This is what I love to do. … So that’s what I was put here to do, is to coach and to teach and to make an impact, and that’s where my focus always is. Obviously, diversity is important to me as well. Not going to run away from that.”

The Vikings have a Black general manager in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Two of their three coordinators are Black, the other being Matt Daniels with special teams.

“When I walk in this building, you see diversity really across the board in every department,’’ Flores said. “That’s exciting, too. Those are things that are ongoing. Obviously, the lawsuit is ongoing. I’m where my feet are, and right now my feet are right here in Eagan.”

Flores’ suit alleges he was offered $100,000 by owner Stephon Ross for each game Miami lost in order to secure a better draft spot, and he was fired for his refusal to tank as well as for refusing to tamper with then-Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady when he wasn’t a free agent. After an investigation, the NFL announced last August it didn’t find anything to conclude there was a “serious offer” to tank, but the Dolphins were fined $1.5 million, stripped of two draft picks and Ross suspended for 2½ months for tampering violations.

Flores was a candidate earlier this month for Arizona’s head position but withdrew when he accepted Minnesota’s offer. He again could be a candidate next year for head coach but said it’s too early to speculate about that.

Family moments

In addition to talking to the Cardinals, Flores also was interviewed for defensive coordinator by Atlanta and Cleveland. His two sons were rooting for him to end up in Minnesota.

“Through this entire process my boys, it was Minnesota and Minnesota only,” Flores said of Miles, 10, and Max, 9. “They didn’t care about any of the other opportunities. They’re big Justin Jefferson fans, so when we accepted the position, there was a lot of Griddying going on in my house. And I had my own of the version that nobody wants to see.”

Flores and his wife Jenny also have a daughter in Liliana, 6. She was an infant when Flores was a New England assistant and the Patriots were preparing to play Philadelphia in Super Bowl LII in February 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“My daughter actually took her first steps at the stadium on picture day at U.S. Bank,’’ Flores said. “So it’s kinda surreal.”

Defensive doings

Kevin O’Connell will enter his second season as Vikings coach with his second defensive coordinator. When asked about his ongoing work with the defense, he didn’t deny it has been a learning process.

“It was a process for me as a first-time head coach, a play caller (on offense), managing the situations of the game, making sure that my communication with the whole staff was up to the standard that I wanted it to be,’’ said O’Connell, who fired Ed Donatell as defensive coordinator Jan. 19. “Those are some of the things that I look to continue to improve on, whether it was a new coach in a role like the defensive coordinator role or continuing to build on that game-day relationship with our whole staff.”

O’Connell liked when interviewing Flores how he discussed “weighty downs.” He said that relates to Flores’ ability to “apply pressure to the offense in a lot of different ways” on “critical downs.”

In terms of his philosophy on players, Flores said he likes those who play “multiple spots” and are “tough and smart and disciplined and physical.”

Cook’s $2 million guarantee

Salary-cap analyst Jason Fitzgerald said Vikings running back Dalvin Cook has an injury guarantee for $2 million of his $10.4 million base salary for 2023 that will be invoked after having shoulder surgery Tuesday.

The guarantee would become official March 17 while the remainder Cook’s base salary would remain unguaranteed. Cook is expected to be ready for the regular season.

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