Brian Flores Named Best Defensive Coordinator in NFL Heading into 2026
Earlier this week, I covered a piece from ESPN’s Ben Solak where he predicted the Vikings to win the NFC North in 2026. Included in that piece from Solak was a nugget we didn’t cover about defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Flores is heading into his fourth year as the shot-caller on the defensive side of the ball for the Minnesota Vikings. Earlier this offseason, the Wilfs decided that he’s pretty good at his job, and rewarded him with a contract extension that makes him the richest defensive coordinator in NFL history. Around this time, Brian Flores was taking head coach interviews with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Luckily for Minnesota, Pittsburgh wanted to roll with Mike McCarthy.
Now, the Vikings get to keep Brian Flores around the building a little bit longer. This is a good thing, since the aforementioned Ben Solak thinks that Flores is the best defensive coordinator in football.
Brian Flores Gets Some Well-Deserved Recognition
Take a gander at what Solak had to say regarding Brian Flores, whom he named the best defensive coordinator currently in the league.
“Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Brian Flores continues chugging along as the best defensive coordinator in the NFL. His creative maximizations of subpar talent stand above the work done by Philly’s Vic Fangio and Denver’s Vance Joseph on superior rosters. There were important departures this year — Jonathan Greenard, Harrison Smith — but Flores has consistently shown that he can beat the other sideline with X’s and O’s. With improved talent at defensive tackle via the draft (Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange), the Vikings’ interior run defense might stiffen up. That has been their Achilles’ heel.”
Brian Flores got some young and fun talent to deploy in his defense in the Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange selections that Solak mentioned. Caleb Banks has a chance to be an absolute freak on the interior, and could be a legitimate pressure-generator up the middle. Orange is going to do the Vikings’ dirty work. He probably won’t rack up many sacks, but he will be stopping the run.
Solak continued about what this defense could do for the Vikings with a hopefully-rejuventated offense:
“If the Vikings’ defense remains a needle-moving unit, then a functional offense could return them to their 2024 status under QB Sam Darnold. Minnesota went 14-3 that year, losing the division in Week 17 to the Lions. It’s unreasonable to expect another 14 wins in a division this tough, but Murray easily has the requisite talent to improve on Minnesota’s 9-8 season in 2025.”
Minnesota’s defense under Brian Flores was absolutely fantastic last season. If you watched the Vikings play football last year, then you’d know that the defensive performance was one of the last reasons that Minnesota had a disappointing year in 2025.
Brian Flores’ Defense Held Back by Poor Vikings Offense, QB Play
Everyone knows that the Vikings’ offense was pretty bad last season, and the QB play was some of the worst we’ve seen in a very long time as fans of the purple. Still, the QB play wasn’t the only bad part of the offense. The rushing offense was bad too, but here’s the frustrating thing: Minnesota was the 12th-most efficient team when running the ball in the NFL last season.
It’s not that the Vikings weren’t capable of running the ball, it’s that they wouldn’t, or they had boxed themselves out situationally. Meanwhile, Brian Flores’ fantastic defense was picking up the slack, and propped up the entire team on its way to somehow finishing 2025 with a winning record, and being a half-game out of the playoffs.
If the Vikings get the usual defensive performance we’re used to them having under Brian Flores, then a rejuvenated offense with an improved J.J. McCarthy or Kyler Murray could make this team a legitimate contender come playoff time this season.
