NFL Players Express Approval for Vikings Hiring Brian Flores
Josh Frey
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Earlier this week, the Minnesota Vikings officially announced that they would be bringing in Brian Flores as their defensive coordinator for 2023. It’s a move that has Vikings fans very excited, but even more impressively, it’s a move that has seen resounding support from other NFL players around the league.
Largely, the support came from former players of Flores. Jevon Holland, who was coached by Flores in 2021 with the Miami Dolphins, during his rookie season after being selected in the second round of the draft, sounded off on Twitter:
It doesn’t stop there, though. The Vikings got so much support for the hire that they posted this tweet:
Amongst the comments are current and former NFL players as well as some of the top analysts. Shaq Lawson was coached by Flores in 2020 with the Dolphins, playing 14 games with 7 starts.
James White’s connection to Flores goes all the way back to the New England Patriots. Flores and White were in New England together for five seasons from 2014-18, and they won three Super Bowls in those five seasons.
Most recently, Cam Heyward was coached by Flores with the Pittsburgh Steelers during 2022. In his 12th NFL season with Flores, Heyward recorded 10.5 sacks, the third 10+ sack season of his career.
Finally, notice the player on there that seems excited to get his time with Flores started: Vikings linebacker Brian Asamoah. The 2022 third-round pick is an uber-athletic linebacker that seems like a candidate for a breakout season in his second year, especially now that Flores, a blitz-heavy defensive mind, will be running the show.
This is certainly a very exciting time for the Vikings, and it is extremely cool to see all these former and current players coming to support the hire of Flores. It speaks to just how respected he is amongst the NFL’s players, and that should go a long way towards improving Minnesota’s defense in 2023.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.