Brian Flores Will Probably Be Snubbed Again
Another NFL head coaching job is open, as the New York Giants parted ways with Brian Daboll in his fourth season. Hired in the same circle as Kevin O’Connell, the former Bills OC couldn’t repeat the success of his debut season with a playoff win over the Vikings. This year, his squad has collected a 2-8 record.
Brian Flores Will Probably Be Snubbed Again
For now, former NFL QB Mike Kafka is the interim head coach. He was previously the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator under Daboll and, therefore, the logical choice for the short term.
Whether he’s in the running for the long haul remains to be seen.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan wrote about Daboll’s dismissal, “Coaching can make a difference in close games, and the Giants have already blown four double-digit leads on the road this season. It also gets held against Daboll that Dart was injured under his watch. Daboll was insistent on not wanting to take away his young quarterback’s aggressiveness. But the reckless nature in which Dart was taking hits ultimately led to this point. The need to avoid this wasn’t stressed.”
Daboll went from a homerun hire and standout rookie coach to unemployed in less than three seasons.
“Basically, this was the breaking point after blowing another game, the poor results and a handful of embarrassing incidents such as entering the blue medical tent to check on Dart while he was being examined for a concussion, which warranted discipline from the league,” Raanan added.
Various potential successors have been floated in the media. Most lists do not include Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who was a hot candidate for three openings earlier this year, but didn’t get the nod. And there’s a simple reason why Flores is unlikely to be the new Giants skipper: He’s suing the franchise.
In 2022, when Daboll was hired, one of the strangest events in recent NFL history occurred. Then Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick (he was 69 years old at the time), who once had both Daboll and Flores on his staff, heard about Daboll getting the job and texted “Brian” to congratulate him.
Well, he texted the wrong Brian. That’s how Flores found out that Daboll would be hired. The problem? Flores’ interview had not yet taken place.
Subsequently, he filed a lawsuit for discrimination.
The Athletic’s Dan Duggan named him as one of his 20 candidates for the Giants gig, but he acknowledges that those bridges might be burned: “Flores was the runner-up to Daboll in the 2022 search, so he has fans in high places within the organization. However, the major complication to his candidacy is the way that the hiring process unfolded, which sparked a lawsuit against the league and the Giants for racial discrimination. Flores’ three-year stint with the Dolphins wasn’t a disaster, and he has learned lessons that will help him at his next stop. The Giants will likely feel obligated to extend another invitation to interview Flores, but the bridge may be burned.”
The Dolphins have been a subpar franchise for quite some time, but they were respectable during his three-year tenure. Flores brought them back into relevance, though he missed the playoffs in his three seasons. Winning five games with the 2019 roster was an impressive feat, and then he logged the club’s first back-to-back winning seasons in two decades. Still, he was ultimately fired. A broken relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa might have played a role.
A year as an assistant in Pittsburgh was followed by his defensive coordinator position in Minnesota. Without any doubt, he has one of the most fascinating defensive schemes in all of football. Paired with head coaching experience, Flores is an obvious candidate for any opening.
Since taking over in 2023, the Vikings’ defense ranks fourth in defensive EPA/Play. An added wrinkle is that Flores was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.
During the 2024 season, Flores was asked whether he still has the intention to return to the top 32 jobs in the business: “Now, I may get some resistance from my kids, who are having a great time here in Minnesota. They’re having a fantastic time here just with school, and basketball, and football, and friendships and things like that. I’d get a little resistance, but for me personally, it’s something that I’d love to do again. With that said, Minnesota has been a great spot for me. My family, we’re really enjoying it,” the defensive coach said about a year ago.
Flores, 44, is in the final months of his contract with the Vikings. His future is a mystery at this point. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be a defensive coordinator, and if so, whether it’s with the Vikings or if the Giants or another franchise calls for higher duties.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.