Brian Flores: Vikings' Defense Will Be Aggressive, Physical, But Not Reckless
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The Vikings' defense is going to look significantly different this year. It's too early to say how much more effective it'll be than the 2022 unit that ranked near the bottom of the league in several categories, but the defense's overall approach and philosophy are in for a major overall with Kevin O'Connell tabbing Brian Flores to replace Ed Donatell at coordinator.
Flores comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree, having spent over a decade under Belichick with the Patriots. He is going to bring an aggressive, physical mindset to the Vikings, which is something they seemed to lack last season. During Flores' three years as the Dolphins' head coach, the team finished second in the NFL in blitz rate in each of the last two. The Vikings were 24th in blitz rate in their lone season under Donatell.
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Instead of sitting back and letting the action come to them, the 2023 Vikings are going to set the tone and come after the opposing offense.
"I’m aggressive by nature," Flores said at his introductory press conference in Minnesota on Wednesday. "Philosophically, that’s something I believe in. (After my interview), I left out of here feeling like there was shared vision. (Kevin) is aggressive offensively. I’m aggressive defensively. That kind of philosophy was aligned."
Aggressiveness has been a big buzzword surrounding the Vikings' defense since last season. Donatell was mostly content to sit back in zone coverage and rush four, which frustrated some fans and national analysts when the Vikings were repeatedly gashed over the middle of the field. Even with a late-season adjustment that increased the team's blitz rate, they finished at 18.9 percent (per PFR), way below the Dolphins' 40 percent blitz rate in 2020 and '21 under Flores.
But Flores wants to be clear about something: Aggressiveness needs to be controlled and timed correctly.
"There’s a method to the madness," he said. "There’s a rhyme and reason, whether it’s down and distance, field position. But, I think it’s not about me or Kev. It’s about the players. It’s about their ability to execute. It’s about our ability to teach and coach and put them in right positions and get them doing things we think they can execute. And we’ll do our very best to do that."
Flores brings an impressive track record to Minnesota. He called plays for the Patriots during their Super Bowl LIII victory over the Rams, when New England held Sean McVay's high-flying offense — which averaged 32.9 points per game in the regular season — to a single field goal. He then took over a Dolphins team without much defensive talent, shaped the defense to his liking, and made them one of the league's most dangerous units in his final two seasons. In 2020, Miami was tied for fifth in scoring defense and led the league in takeaways.
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Deception and versatility are big for Flores. With the Dolphins, he became known for frequently blitzing out of cover zero looks — which means sending heavy pressure while playing man coverage without any deep safeties. It can be a high-risk, high-reward strategy, but Flores can also do a variety of different things after showing a blitz zero look. Watching those Dolphins teams on tape, it's often difficult to identify before the snap who will end up blitzing and who will drop into coverage. The goal is to confuse the quarterback and make him process a lot after the snap while a bevy of pass rushers are bearing down on him. Usually, one of those rushers will be unblocked, because of deception and the simple math of sending more players than the offense can block.
"Zero gives people some issues," Flores said. "I think if you’re willing to give a blitz zero presentation and send them, then obviously, offensively, they’ve got to prepare for it and have some answers for it. And then it becomes a cat and mouse game. Is it zero or is it not zero? Any way you slice it, you’ve got to be ready for it. That’s part of the philosophy or the thought process. Maybe I’ll try to come up with a different way of presenting it, but that’s the game. There's always new trends within the league and it’s our job to stay up on them. As professionals, that’s what we do. So to answer your blitz zero question, it may be trendy or it may not be, so we’ll see as the season progresses. But personally, I like to give that presentation."
The next step for the Vikings is to make changes to the roster so it fits Flores' style. There are discussions to be had and decisions to be made on some of the expensive veteran defensive players on the roster. Next month, the team's leadership will dive into free agency, where they'll presumably need to add at least a couple cornerbacks and a defensive lineman or two. April's NFL Draft will also be a major focus over the next couple months.
Flores said he wants smart, tough, physical players who can fill multiple roles.
"Guys who love to play," he said. "Team first. You need dirty work guys on your team. And by that I mean guys who are taking on double teams so somebody else makes a tackle or spilling a play so somebody else makes a tackle or batting a ball down. ... I think we’ve got a lot of those types of guys on our roster already."
"I’m big on versatility," he added. "Guys being able to play multiple spots."
Flores will work closely with O'Connell and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on the process of improving this roster and bringing in players who can execute their collective vision for this version of the Vikings' defense.
"Really trying to build a personnel plan that’s thorough, that’s accounted for, the things we’re really excited about (with) the guys on our roster and then maybe where we need to go add some pieces to achieve the goals of wanting to be versatile and wanting to be multiple," O'Connell said. "And then ultimately, (we want to) be really tough to move the ball against, with the ability not only to put packages of things together that we do well, but also being in an attacking mindset of taking away some of the things the opponent does well."
Right now, in mid-February, the Vikings are still in the early stages of figuring out what they want their defense to look like this fall. It'll undoubtedly utilize a lot of the things Flores has had success with in the past, but it'll also be tailored to the team's personnel and strengths.
Asked if his defense will run a 4-3 or a 3-4 scheme, Flores answered with a question of his own: "Who are we playing?"
"It’s gameplan specific," he said. "But it’s 3-4."
Most importantly, Flores wants his defense to have camaraderie and play with joy when they're out there on the field together.
"First and foremost, the good defenses I’ve been around — and something I’m always going to harp on — I want guys who are having fun out there," he said. "That there’s a joy as you watch them play. You guys can see it, anyone watching can see that there’s joy, that there’s camaraderie, that they’re fighting together. But (I want to be) all of the things that you always hear: tough, smart, disciplined. And physical.
"I think right now in these early stages, we’ll cast a wide net and then we’ll see what we do best. And we’ll try to highlight the things that our players do well and try not to do some of the things that they don’t do well. I think that’s kind of a common phrase that coaches use oftentimes, (but) I think it’s something that we should do. It makes sense to me. But, tough and smart. I want guys that have fun. Again, it can be a grueling game, it can be a physical game, but I want our guys to have joy as they play."
Flores comes to Minnesota with a lot of experience coaching defense and a lot of ideas on how it should be done. Over the remainder of this offseason, he'll work with O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah on getting the right players in the building — and then he'll install his defense by doing what he loves to do best: coach and teach.
Let the work begin.
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