Purple Rumor Mill: Brian Flores’ Departure, Belichick’s Endorsement, Award for Vikings
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the September 29th edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Brian Flores’ Departure, Belichick’s Endorsement, Award for Vikings
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: The 2024 season could be Brian Flores’ final as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator.
According to ESPN, defensive coordinator Brian Flores is turning heads around the NFL, which could translate to another head coaching assignment for the coveted defensive coach.
“Right now the buzziest coordinator in the league is former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who’s in his second season running the Vikings’ defense. On performance alone, he’s unassailable,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote this week. “The Vikings have allowed a total of 30 points this season to the Giants, 49ers and Texans, and Flores is drawing raves for the way he disguises pressures and confuses quarterbacks. It started last season in Minnesota, but the players are executing it at a much higher level in Year 2 of the system.”
The Vikings’ defense ranks No. 1 in the NFL per DVOA heading into Week 4. Minnesota travels to Lambeau Field this weekend to face the Green Bay Packers.
“The question with Flores as a head-coaching candidate is, of course, that he still has a pending lawsuit against the NFL alleging racial discrimination in the league’s hiring practices,” Graziano continued. “The Vikings’ defense could be the reincarnation of the 1985 Bears and it would still be hard to imagine an owner hiring a head coach who’s in the middle of suing the league.”
We fully expect to be on borrowed time with Flores — he deserves to head coach another team.
It’s also worth noting that a source told VikingsTerritory during the offseason that Flores is one of the NFL’s highest-paid coordinators.
Rumor: Bill Belichick is a believer in Sam Darnold.
Men like Belichick are singing Sam Darnold’s praises, if that can be believed. Belichick joined The Pat McAfee Show this week and made it sound like everyone knew Darnold was a good football player — except the New York Jets, the franchise that drafted him third overall in 2018.
“I’ll say this — everybody has liked Darnold except the Jets,” Belichick said.
Darnold leads the NFL in touchdown passes through three games and ranks seventh per EPA+CPOE, an efficiency metric measuring expected wins added. In fact, Minnesota’s offense looks improved with Darnold in the saddle following six years of Kirk Cousins at the helm.
Belichick added, “The people in Carolina I talked to, they really liked him. … I know that Kevin O’Connell and some of the coaches in Minnesota, they really like this guy, too.”
Kudos to Belichick for the side-swipe of the Jets.
Rumor: Kevin O’Connell is the frontrunner to win the NFL’s Coach of the Year award.
Entering Week 4, O’Connell has the league’s top odds to win COTY at a +350 moneyline.
He tops Mike Macdonald (+500, Seattle Seahawks), Jim Harbaugh (+900, Los Angeles Chargers), and Mike Tomlin (+1000, Pittsburgh Steelers) through three games. For new bettors, the +350 moneyline means a wagerer would win $350 if she placed $100 on O’Connell to take home the COTY trophy.
It’s only Week 4, but COTY is O’Connell’s to lose.
The Sweetest Part of the Vikings’ 3-0 Start
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.