Andrew Buller-Russ
It’s been four seasons since the Minnesota Vikings made the decision to fire Mike Zimmer. At the time, there was fear of whether the Vikings would be able to find a better coach than the respected defensive mind who had a heavy hand in the NFL’s mastery of the Tampa 2 defense.
Four years later, it’s clear that the Vikings have found a better head coach in Kevin O’Connell. Over the years, he’s managed to put together a strong coaching staff on both sides of the ball. That includes defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who has received multiple head-coaching interviews but is now set to return for his fourth season leading the defense.
Coach O’Connell has developed a reputation for making the offense easy on quarterbacks (of course, having Justin Jefferson helps), and coach Flores is known for confusing even the best offensive minds. When both sides are at their best, the Vikings are hard to beat.
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The Vikings have lost several members of their coaching staff to other teams since coach O’Connell joined the team in 2022. Somehow, some way, coach Flores hasn’t departed, which for Minnesota may be nothing short of a miracle.
Recently, ESPN’s top NFL analyst Ben Solak made some predictions for the season ahead. In doing so, he picked the Vikings to win the NFC North, noting that Minnesota’s defense is the only one he trusts in the division. He also called coach Flores the NFL’s best defensive coordinator today.
“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.”
ESPN’s Ben Solak on Vikings’ Defense
If the Vikings’ offense can bounce back after ranking 26th in scoring by signing Kyler Murray and/or getting better production from J.J. McCarthy, there’s reason to believe this team can take a leap forward. Of course, their success will also depend on how well coach Flores can get the defense to play too, but as Solak says, he can be trusted to put forth a strong effort.
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