| Minnesota Vikings | |
|---|---|
| Title | Defensive coordinator |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1981-02-24)February 24, 1981 (age 44) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Poly Prep (Brooklyn, New York) |
| College | Boston College (1999–2003) |
| Position | Defensive back |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| |
Operations | |
| Awards and highlights | |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | 24–25 (.490) |
| Coaching profile atPro Football Reference | |
Brian Francisco Flores (born February 24, 1981) is an American professionalfootball coach who is thedefensive coordinator for theMinnesota Vikings of theNational Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career with theNew England Patriots, where he served as an assistant coach from 2008 to 2018. Flores was New England's defensive playcaller during his final season with the team, which concluded with a victory inSuper Bowl LIII. Following the victory, he served as the head coach of theMiami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021.
Although unable to reach the playoffs, Flores helped lead Miami to consecutive winning seasons between 2020 and 2021, the franchise's first since 2003. However, conflict with Dolphins management led to his being fired after the 2021 season. Flores later filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, alleging racial discrimination in the league's treatment of minority coaches and executives. Amid the lawsuit, he returned to assistant coaching and became the defensive coordinator of the Vikings in 2023.
Flores was born and raised in theBrownsville section ofBrooklyn,New York City, toHonduran parents.[1] After attendingPoly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, Flores played football atBoston College as a defensive back[2] from 1999 through 2003. An injury prevented him from playing in the NFL.[1] Flores grew up a fan of theNew York Giants andNew York Mets.[3]
In2004, at the age of 23, Flores joined the Patriots as a scouting assistant, the same year the franchise won its third Super Bowl title inSuper Bowl XXXIX.[4] He became a pro scout in2006 before getting promoted toBill Belichick's coaching staff in2008, serving as a special teams coaching assistant until the end of the2009 season. His title was changed to assistant coach offense/special teams in2010. He was named defensive assistant in2011, where Flores and the Patriots would appear inSuper Bowl XLVI, but lost, 21–17, to theNew York Giants in a rematch ofSuper Bowl XLII. In2012, he was named safeties' coach. In his four-year tenure as safeties' coach, the Patriots defeated theSeattle Seahawks to win their fourth Super Bowl title inSuper Bowl XLIX.[5] Flores was named linebackers' coach ahead of the2016 season. That same year, Flores and the Patriots defeated theAtlanta Falcons inSuper Bowl LI after the Patriots were down, 28–3, would rally to win the game, 34–28, in the first Super Bowl to be decided in overtime.[6] A day after the Patriots lostSuper Bowl LII to thePhiladelphia Eagles, long-time assistantMatt Patricia left to become the new head coach of theDetroit Lions, and Flores would take over the Patriots' defensive playcalling duties, but was not given the title of defensive coordinator.[7] In Flores' last game with the Patriots,Super Bowl LIII, they defeated theLos Angeles Rams, 13–3, in both a rematch ofSuper Bowl XXXVI and the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in NFL history.[8][9]
On February 4, 2019, the day after the Patriots won their 6th Super Bowl title and after 15 years of serving as a Patriots assistant, Flores was hired as 12th head coach of theMiami Dolphins, becoming the fourth Latino in NFL history to become a head coach, afterRon Rivera,Tom Fears, andTom Flores,[10] the second formerBelichick assistant to coach the team (the first beingNick Saban from2005–2006).[11] Flores was also interviewed by theGreen Bay Packers,Denver Broncos, andCleveland Browns for each of their vacant head coaching spots.[12] The Dolphins also considered hiringKansas City Chiefs offensive coordinatorEric Bieniemy and team assistantsDarren Rizzi orDowell Loggains prior to Flores' hiring.[13]
On September 8, 2019, the Dolphins lost to theBaltimore Ravens, 59–10, in Flores' head coaching debut. Again in Week 2, the Dolphins lost, 43–0, to Flores' former team, the defending Super Bowl championNew England Patriots, leaving the Dolphins outscored by a total of 163 points as of the team's bye week in Week 5, which had included blowout losses to theDallas Cowboys andLos Angeles Chargers. After a two-month winless start, Flores recorded his first win as a head coach in a 26–18 home victory over the division rivalNew York Jets on November 3, 2019. The Jets were led by Flores' predecessor and former Dolphins head coachAdam Gase, and that game was his first visit to Miami since the Dolphins fired him in December 2018. Flores followed this by earning his second consecutive win against theIndianapolis Colts the following week, which was Miami's first road win since Week 2 of the2018 season. Flores' first season as head coach concluded with a 27–24 upset win over his former team, the Patriots, and was also the Dolphins' first road win over the Patriots since2008.[14] In his first season as a head coach, finishing 5–4 after beginning the season 0–7, and 4th/last place in the AFC East, Flores led the Dolphins to a 5–11 record.
In his second season, Flores made the decision at the start of the 2020 season to start veteran quarterbackRyan Fitzpatrick over still injured rookie quarterbackTua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins went on to open the season with an 0–2 start with back-to-back losses against the division rivals New England Patriots andBuffalo Bills by the scores of 21–11 and 31–28 respectively, before winning their first game of the season against theJacksonville Jaguars by a score of 31–13, also Miami's first win over Jacksonville since2014. During a Week 5 game against the defending NFC ChampionSan Francisco 49ers, the Dolphins blew out the Niners by a score of 43–17, which was their first time since2015 scoring more than 40 points in a game, their first blowout win since December 3, 2017, and was also their first road win over the 49ers since2004. They would also begin a 5-game winning streak for the first time since2016, after beginning the season 0–2 and then 1–3. On a Week 6 contest against the division rivalNew York Jets, a 24–0 win, the Dolphins were the favorites to win for the first time since Week 16 of the2018 season, a 17–7 loss versus theJaguars. The Dolphins were also favored to win for the first time under Flores' tenure as head coach. It was also the Dolphins' first shutout win since November 2, 2014. On October 20, Flores confirmed Tua would be the team's starting quarterback for Week 8, following their bye week, after allowing him to play the final seconds in the shutout win against the Jets.[15] In Week 8, Tua's first NFL start, the Dolphins defense upset theLos Angeles Rams 28–17, as the Dolphins defeated them for the 5th time since2001. On November 8, Flores guided the Dolphins to a 34–31 win over theArizona Cardinals, which was their first road win over the Cardinals since1996 and they also began the season 5–3 for the first time since 2014. On November 15, the Dolphins defeated theLos Angeles Chargers 29–21 to improve on their 5–11 record from last season and to begin the season 6–3 for the first time since 2001. On December 6, after defeating theCincinnati Bengals 19–7, the Dolphins began the season 8–4 for the first time since 2003. On December 20, 2020, the Dolphins defeated Flores' former team, theNew England Patriots, by a score of 22–12, which eliminated the Patriots from the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and the Dolphins clinched their first winning season since 2016 as well as their first under Flores' tenure. On January 3, 2021, after a 56–26 loss to theBuffalo Bills in Week 17, and after thePittsburgh Steelers lost and theIndianapolis Colts won their season finales, the Dolphins were eliminated from playoff contention for the fourth consecutive season. The Dolphins ended the season 10–6.
Entering his third season, after veteran quarterbackRyan Fitzpatrick signed with theWashington Football Team on March 15, 2021, 2nd-year quarterbackTua Tagovailoa became the undisputed starting quarterback. During their season opener vs. theNew England Patriots, the Dolphins won 17–16. After the opening win, Flores would joinDon Shula as the only head coaches in franchise history to beat the Patriots multiple times in Foxboro. On September 19, on another divisional showdown versus theBuffalo Bills, starter Tua Tagovailoa suffered a rib injury that would cause him to miss the next 3 weeks. Miami would go on to lose that game 0–35. Flores made the decision to startJacoby Brissett for the next 3 games, where he would go 0–3 as a starter which included a close Week 3 loss to theLas Vegas Raiders 28–31 in overtime, a 17–27 loss to Brissett's former team, theIndianapolis Colts, as well as a Week 5 blowout loss to the defending Super Bowl championTampa Bay Buccaneers 17–45, led byTom Brady, whom Brissett backed up in 2016 as a member of the New England Patriots. On October 17, 2021, Flores and his team travelled toLondon, England, to take on the winlessJacksonville Jaguars, which marked Tua Tagovailoa's return from injury. Despite leading 13–3 in the first half, Flores' Dolphins lost 20–23 on a last-second field goal made by Jaguars kickerMatthew Wright, to snap the Jaguars' 20-game losing streak dating back to the 2020 season opener. After nearly 2 months of frustration and inconsistency, the Dolphins finally recorded their 2nd win of the season versus theHouston Texans in an ugly 17–9 win that featured nine turnovers and without Tagovailoa starting that game due to a fractured finger. On November 11, 2021, Flores guided the team to an upset victory over theBaltimore Ravens 22–10 on aThursday Night Football game, the Dolphins' first win over the Ravens since 2015. On November 28, 2021, Flores' Dolphins defeated theCarolina Panthers 33–10 in Miami's first victory over Carolina since 2009. On December 5, 2021, the Dolphins defeated theNew York Giants 20–9, which was the team's first win over the Giants since2003, as well as their first-ever home win over the Giants. On December 19, 2021, the Dolphins defeated the New York Jets 31–24 after Miami was down 7–17 in the first half and was also their first time sweeping the Jets in back-to-back years since the1996 and1997 seasons. In Week 16, the Dolphins pushed their win streak to 7 with a 20–3 win over theNew Orleans Saints; however, it came to an end the following week with a blowout loss of 34–3 to theTennessee Titans. The Dolphins wrapped up their 2021 season on January 9, 2022, with a win over the playoff bound Patriots, defeating them 33–24. This marked the first time since 2000 that the Dolphins swept the season series with the Patriots. The team finished the 2021 season with a 9–8 record after starting the season 1–7 and then going 8–1. The Dolphins were the first team in NFL history to lose seven straight games and then win seven straight games in the same season. They also clinched back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the2002 and2003 seasons.
On January 10, 2022, the Dolphins announced that they had fired Flores after three seasons.[16] Flores finished his tenure with the Dolphins with a 24–25 (.490) record and no postseason berths during his tenure.[17] It was reported that prior to Flores' firing, the Dolphins pursuedSean Payton to be the head coach of the Dolphins.[18] The Dolphins and team ownerStephen M. Ross were fined $1.5 million and forfeited a 2023 first round draft pick along with a 2024 third round pick due to impermissible communication with both Payton and Tom Brady, who both share the same agent,Don Yee, between the 2019 and 2021 seasons. Ross would also receive a six-game suspension as a result and Dolphins vice chairman/limited partner Bruce Beal was fined $500,000 and received a year-long suspension for the 2022 season.[19]
On February 19, 2022, Flores was announced as thePittsburgh Steelers' senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach under head coachMike Tomlin.[20]
On February 6, 2023, Flores was hired by theMinnesota Vikings as their defensive coordinator under head coachKevin O'Connell.[21]
On February 1, 2022, Flores filed aclass-action lawsuit against the NFL,New York Giants,Denver Broncos, and Dolphins organizations, allegingracial discrimination.[22] The suit claims that text messages he received fromNew England Patriots coachBill Belichick, as well as media reports, show that the New York Giants decided to hireBrian Daboll, a colleague of Flores from New England from 2013 to 2016, as head coachbefore interviewing any minority candidates. The Giants, who scheduled an interview with Flores for January 27, had allegedly decided on Daboll by January 23. Flores also accusedJohn Elway and Broncos management of conducting another sham head coach interview with him in 2019, arriving an hour late and appearing hungover.[23] Elway responded by stating that five Broncos officials flew overnight from Colorado to Rhode Island to work around the only interview time that worked for Flores, that they had interviewed him for 3.5 hours, and that they took and still retain detailed notes proving their genuine interest in hiring him.[24] The lawsuit additionally alleges that during Flores' tenure with the Dolphins, team ownerStephen Ross pressured him todeliberately lose games, offering him $100,000 for each game he lost in order for the Dolphins to get better draft picks for the following season, and totamper with a quarterback before free agency. Flores alleges that he was fired by Ross in retaliation for his refusals to tank (in the process, achieving two consecutive winning seasons) and to tamper.[23]The Palm Beach Post reported that the quarterback wasTom Brady.[25] The lawsuit seeksdamages andinjunctive relief in the form of changes to hiring, retention, termination, and pay transparency practices for coaching and executive positions in the NFL.[26]
On April 8, 2022, former Arizona Cardinals head coachSteve Wilks and long-time NFL assistantRay Horton joined the lawsuit against the league.[27]
On March 1, 2023, United States District Court JudgeValerie E. Caproni granted the NFL's motion to compel arbitration in the lawsuit, except as to Flores's claims against the New York Giants, the Houston Texans, the Denver Broncos, and his related claims against the NFL.[28]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| MIA | 2019 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 4th in AFC East | — | — | — | — |
| MIA | 2020 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 2nd in AFC East | — | — | — | — |
| MIA | 2021 | 9 | 8 | 0 | .529 | 3rd in AFC East | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 24 | 25 | 0 | .490 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||