Brian Flores Addresses His 2026 Plans
Reporters were anxious to chat with Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores on Tuesday about his future with the franchise and in the NFL’s coaching carousel, and he wasn’t afraid to stress his commitment to Week 18 game-planning in addition to communicating his love for his current employer.
Flores acknowledged the timing of the question without committing to outcomes, reinforcing a familiar pattern: focus on the present and leave the offseason until next week.
Flores may be a popular name in the upcoming coaching carousel. He did little to downplay his eventual interest in that process.
Brian Flores Offseason Storyline Takes Center Stage
Flores speaks on the elephant in the room.
Flores on His Future
Flores very obviously didn’t want to talk about his offseason plans, instead focusing on the task at hand: the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
But reporters didn’t relent, forcing Flores to say at least something on the topic.
He said, “I love Minnesota. I love this team. I love working for and with KO. He’s been fantastic to me. I think the Wilfs are some of the best owners in the league. I love these players, the coaching staff. And like I said, Minnesota has shown me a lot of love, and I show it right back.”
“And so I don’t know how much more there is to it. I mean, if everything lines up and it fits. From a football standpoint, it fits. And I think there’s always a, let’s call it a business part of this. The football all lines up and we’ll just see where it all goes.”
The remarks sounded exactly like a man who knows he’ll command head coach interviews in a couple of weeks but doesn’t want to close the door on the Vikings relationship, just in case.
A Similar Answer Last Year at This Time on the Calendar
The Vikings hired Flores to start the 2023 season after the failed Ed Donatell experiment in 2022. And near the end of every regular season since, reporters ask Flores the same thing around this time of year — will you stay or will you go?
Flores always replies with a consistent message: he owes it to his players and employer to stay on task and leave the offseason jargon … for the offseason. The 2025 campaign is no different.
In fact, as media members prodded Flores for answers, he just smiled with awkward poses, failing to understand why reporters could not understand why he wouldn’t tell all about his offseason plans. It’s not how the business works.
It would actually be quite odd and semi-unprofessional for Flores to say, “You know what? I’m actually outta here next week.”
A Man Deserving of Another Head Coach Gig
The Vikings’ decision to let Brian Flores coach through the season without an extension points to a single, practical explanation: Flores still sees himself as a head coach. The league could eventually agree.
His Miami tenure ended badly after 2021, followed by a chaotic 2022 interview cycle that included the New York Giants and Denver Broncos. That stretch eventually led to his lawsuit against the NFL. The fallout stalled his momentum, but it didn’t erase him from the market. Flores hasn’t landed another head-coaching job since, yet he never fully disappeared from consideration.
There were signs last winter that his name was circulating again. The interest stayed quiet, but it was real enough to suggest doors reopening. Another hiring cycle now approaches, and Flores enters it with added leverage from what he’s built in Minnesota — a defense with structure, credibility, and impressive rankings.
Viewed through any other lens, the Vikings’ stance becomes difficult to justify. Teams rarely leave elite coordinators in limbo, especially ones who stabilize an entire unit and raise organizational confidence. An extension could have been handled months ago, but it was not. So, here we are.
Where Would Flores Go?
Based on his team’s defensive performance in the last three seasons, Flores should absolutely get serious head coaching attention — not just Rooney Rule lip service. Plenty of teams will be looking for new skippers as early as next week.
These clubs might need new head coaches:
- Arizona Cardinals
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
And these franchises will certainly look for bosses unless the interim options get hired for full-time duty:
- New York Giants
- Tennessee Titans
The Miami Dolphins, too, could fire Mike McDaniel, but it’s severely unlikely for Flores to return to the team that canned him four years ago.
Otherwise, if the league continues to stiff-arm Flores, it sounds like he’ll have no problem returning to Minnesota — he loves it there.
And fans would rejoice.
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