Vikings Hire New Defensive Coordinator
The Minnesota Vikings had to take action after firing their defensive coordinator once the season ended. His defense was the biggest reason for the unexpected early playoff exit against the Giants. Ed Donatell was with the team for only one season before he was let go.
The search for a new defensive coordinator was a hard one. Sean Desai withdrew his name from consideration, Ejiro Evero joined Frank Reich’s coaching staff in Carolina, and Ryan Nielsen took the same job in Atlanta after the Vikings interviewed him for their DC opening.
Vikings Hire New Defensive Coordinator
Turning around a defensive unit that finished near the bottom in many different categories should be easy to do. The Vikings were 30th in points allowed, 31st in yards allowed, and 27th in DVOA.
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The list of candidates was long. Interviews with a handful of candidates followed. On Monday, reports surfaced that the Vikings hire Brian Flores, Steelers linebackers coach, and former Miami Dolphins head coach.
Flores was in the race for the head coaching job in Arizona and various defensive coordinator positions. Ultimately, the Vikings get probably the strongest candidate, despite having to watch multiple other guys take different jobs. Neither Nielsen nor Desai nor Evero would’ve given the fanbase this much hope for a turnaround of the defense.
The new defensive coordinator spent his first 15 seasons in New England in many different positions. He then got hired by the Dolphins as their new head coach in 2019, inheriting a horrendous team. Miami’s owner Stephen Ross allegedly wanted the team to lose. Many sports shows on national TV suggested that the 2019 Dolphins could be the worst team ever after blowout losses to start the season.
However, he had the team fighting every game and even managed to win five contests, many more than expected, ruining the team’s chances for Joe Burrow. In his three seasons with the club, Flores didn’t make the playoffs but had a team that played hard and gained back a lot of respect. His final two seasons were both with nine wins, the first consecutive winning seasons in Miami since 2003.
His defensive coaching style will be a nice contrast to the 2022 Vikings. The 2022 Vikings blitzed the quarterback on 18.9% of his dropbacks, the ninth lowest in the NFL while Flores’ 2021 Dolphins sent extra pressure on 39.6%, the second most in the league.
Even the Miami defense in his first season with suspect personnel, probably even worse than current Vikings, blitzed on 31.6%, the 14th most that year. Of course, many blitzes don’t automatically equal a good defense but it is a first step to making it a more respected unit without sitting back in coverage and letting backup quarterbacks carve up that coverage – something quarterbacks did with Donatell’s unit all year.
After his departure from Miami, for sketchy reasons, no one understood the firing because everyone suggested that he did a wonderful job, he became the linebacker coach in Pittsburgh under former Vikings DC Mike Tomlin, a job he was obviously overqualified for.
Flores had heavy head coaching interest in back-to-back offseasons. If he can build a decent unit in Minnesota, he might get his next chance in the 2024 off-season. Vikings fans shouldn’t fear that possibility, as it would mean that the Vikings’ defense was actually good in 2023, which is obviously the goal.
The hire of Flores would require another scheme change. Minnesota underwent one of those just one year ago after the departure of Mike Zimmer and changed the system to a Vic Fangio 3-4 scheme. Flores is running a 3-4 as well, but he learned from Bill Belichick.
Changes would be necessary, especially in coverage. The new guy in town will run much more man coverage than Donatell and the Vikings must help him by bringing in the right cornerbacks. A breakout campaign from guys like Cameron Dantzler and Andrew Booth would also help him a lot.
After the hire, many defensive personnel questions follow. The defense was one of the oldest in the league and desperately needs an infusion of youth to make it work.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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