The Vikings Have a Top-10 Defensive Coordinator in Football
The Vikings have had a busy offseason with plenty of roster movement, but no move they made since last season ended was more impactful than the hire of Brian Flores as defensive coordinator.
The ineffectiveness of Ed Donatell's scheme was one of the primary things that held the 2022 Vikings back (though the team's defensive players deserve a fair share of blame, too). Donatell's Fangio-style approach of sitting back in two-high looks and creating post-snap confusion without much designed pressure simply didn't work. Opposing offenses were able to pick the defense apart, marching up and down the field with little to no resistance.
Firing Donatell after the season was a necessary move, especially when it led to landing Flores as his replacement. A defensive coach of Flores' caliber being available to hire is unusual, and the Vikings were fortunate that he wound up joining their staff instead of landing a head coaching gig elsewhere. The former longtime Bill Belichick assistant is one of the more respected defensive minds in football, having coached some dominant Patriots defenses before authoring an impressive turnaround as the Dolphins' head coach.
Technically, this will be Flores' first time holding the title of defensive coordinator. But that was essentially his role alongside Belichick in the later years of his Patriots tenure; Flores called plays against the Rams and massively out-coached Sean McVay in Super Bowl LII. He then went to Miami in 2019 and led their defense in addition to his head coach duties. Flores transformed a poor defense into one of the league's best, most aggressive units in 2020 and 2021, but was fired despite going 19-14 in the final two seasons of his three-year tenure.
After one season as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach on Mike Tomlin's Steelers staff, Flores joined the Vikings and has spent this offseason installing his aggressive, varied scheme.
Immediately, Flores deserves to be considered one of the better defensive coordinators in the league. PFF's Trevor Sikkema recently ranked his top 10 DCs in the NFL, slotting Flores in at No. 8.
Before his time with the Steelers, Flores was head coach of the Dolphins. In his first season, they ranked dead last in points per game allowed (30.9). In his second season, they jumped all the way to fourth (21.1). In his final season, Miami fell to 15th, but their average stayed true at 21.9 points allowed per game. The Dolphins placed sixth in the league in expected points allowed per play in those final two seasons with Flores at the helm.
That feels like a fair ranking for someone with Flores' track record.
One of the most exciting things about this upcoming Vikings season will be watching their defense and seeing Flores' vision unfold on the field. It's going to look a lot different from last year's unit, that's for sure.
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