If it's not Brian Flores, will Vikings reopen DC search or hire Mike Pettine?
It's been a wild week of change in the Minnesota Vikings rumor mill as defensive coordinator candidates have come and gone ... elsewhere.
The latest shock was Ejiro Evero being granted permission to interview with Minnesota only to take the defensive coordinator gig with the Carolina Panthers. The Vikings never even had a chance to interview him.
Before Evero, Ryan Nielsen interviewed only to accept the defensive coordinator job with the Falcons. Sean Desai interviewed before he reportedly removed his name from consideration.
The only other known candidates are Brian Flores and Mike Pettine. Flores now appears to be a finalist to become the next head coach of the Cardinals, with NFL Network's Ian Rapoport saying Flores will interview a second time with Arizona on Wednesday.
"He will also interview with the [Broncos] DC job the day before – and is a top candidate for the [Vikings] DC job," Rapoport reported Sunday.
Flores has options and if he goes down a road that doesn't end in the Twin Cities the Vikings might have to delay their hire further or give the job to Pettine.
Pettine, 56, spent this past season as Kevin O'Connell's assistant head coach. In 2021 he was a senior defensive assistant for the Bears. He also has time as a defensive coordinator with the Packers (2018-20), Bills (2013) and Jets (2009-12), in addition to two seasons as head coach of the Browns (2014-15).
That's seven years of experience as a DC and two years as a head coach. Pettine's defenses finished top 10 against the pass in seven of his 10 seasons as a defensive coordinator or head coach, though his better years came earlier on in his career.
- 2009 Jets: 1st in yards, 1st in points, 1st in pass yards
- 2010 Jets: 3rd in yards, 6th in points, 6th in pass yards
- 2011 Jets: 5th in yards, 20th in points, 5th in pass yards
- 2012 Jets: 8th in yards, 20th in points, 2nd in pass yards
- 2013 Bills: 10th in yards, 12th in points, 4th in pass yards
- 2014 Browns: 23rd in yards, 9th in points, 8th in pass yards
- 2015 Browns: 27th in yards, 29th in points, 22nd in pass yards
- 2018 Packers: 18th in yards, 22nd in points, 12th in pass yards
- 2019 Packers: 18th in yards, 9th in points, 14th in pass yards
- 2020 Packers: 9th in yards, 13th in points, 7th in pass yards
Based on Pro Football Focus grades, his defenses have typically been better than league average.
Graphic by Jonathan Harrison
His most recent DC job ended after the Packers lost to the Buccaneers in the 2020-21 NFC Championship Game, when Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur was critical of Pettine's game plan – namely the coverage they played when Tom Brady hit Scottie Miller for a 39-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half.
“It was man coverage,” LaFleur said. “Definitely not the right call for the situation, and you can’t do stuff like that against a good football team and expect to win.”
If Flores isn't the guy and the Vikings don't go with Pettine, we can all come to the conclusion that interviewing Pettine in the first place was meaningless because they never intended to give him the job.
