If Brian Flores leaves, who will be Minnesota's defensive coordinator?

In an ideal world, the Vikings will find a way to keep defensive coordinator Brian Flores around for a fourth season in 2026. If he doesn't land a head coaching job in this cycle, the expectation is that Minnesota will be aggressive in trying to sign Flores to a new contract to remain their DC.

But with the hiring cycle now underway, the chances of Flores becoming a head coach this year look a lot greater than they did a month ago, even when factoring in his ongoing lawsuit against the league. As of Monday afternoon, we're up to six vacancies in the NFL, with perhaps a couple more to come. And the Raiders, in particular, loom as a logical landing spot for Flores, given his history in New England with Tom Brady.

It's still very possible that Flores is back in Minnesota in 2026. But if he isn't, Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings will have a massive hire to make on that side of the ball. Here's an early look at some of the potential candidates in the event that a new DC is needed.

In-house candidates

The simplest way for the Vikings to replace Flores and keep his defensive scheme/style in place would be to promote from within. And the most logical candidate if they were to go that route is defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Daronte Jones.

Jones, 47, has been Flores' top assistant since his arrival in 2023. He coaches the defensive backs, but he also has a major role in overall game-planning and preparation throughout the season. Jones has previously been the Vikings' DBs coach under Mike Zimmer in 2020 and under Ed Donatell in 2022. In between, he spent one season as LSU's defensive coordinator. He seems ready for his shot to be an NFL DC, whenever that might come.

Other names worth mentioning including inside linebackers coach Mike Siravo, outside linebackers coach Thad Bogardus, and defensive line coach Marcus Dixon.

External options

If Flores does land a job elsewhere, the list of external candidates the Vikings could consider would be extremely long. But if we're going to do some early speculation, why not start with two of the head coaches who have been fired in the last 24 hours?

Raheem Morris, let go by the Falcons after two seasons, already has a great relationship with O'Connell from their time together with the Rams in 2021. Morris has proven to be a strong defensive coach, but it should be noted that his scheme is quite different from the one Flores runs.

The same is true of Jonathan Gannon, who was just fired by the Cardinals after three seasons. Gannon, who was a Vikings assistant under Zimmer from 2014-17, was the Eagles' DC for two years before landing in Arizona. He runs a Vic Fangio-style defense. So did Donatell, but the Vikings' struggles in 2022 don't mean they have to write off that kind of system forever. Plenty of other teams have had success with it. And if the Vikings end up losing Flores, maybe they shouldn't try to hold onto his specific scheme anyways.

As for other external names who could be targets, there are so many out there that it's tricky to speculate. Nick Rallis (Cardinals), Jeff Ullbrich (Falcons), Jim Schwartz (Browns), and Patrick Graham (Raiders) are defensive coordinators on teams who just fired their head coach, which likely means they'll be looking for work. USC co-DC Eric Henderson was on that '21 Rams staff with O'Connell. And Karl Scott, who was Mike Zimmer's DBs coach when Jones was gone in '21, has done good things with the Seahawks as DBs coach and passing game coordinator for the past four years.

For now, these are all just names to keep in mind. But if Flores isn't back in Minnesota, this will be thrust into the spotlight as a key hiring process for O'Connell and company.

In-house candidates

External options

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