After a prolonged period of waiting that felt like an eternity for Vikings fans, the purple and gold can finally rest easy as Brian Flores has officially been appointed as the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. A dream hire for many, even though Ejiro Evero seemingly slipped through Minnesota’s fingers and into the Carolina Panthers’ grasp. Flores was favored by many, including myself, and now he finds himself with the conundrum of fixing the sinking ship on defense. Good luck Brian.
Brian Flores’ Background
Flores comes in after serving as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ assistant and linebackers coach, at least after his tumultuous tenure in Miami which honestly carries little relevance in this new role. Flores’ background as a consistent leader with high level defensive play throughout all the teams he’s coached speaks for itself. He helped coach the New England Patriots defense that infamously had an incredible turnaround just in time for the playoffs, guiding them to a Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams. His defenses in Miami, disregarding the first season in which Miami was clearly tanking, were always stout as he helped with defensive play-calling while in Miami.
His history speaks for itself, and his scuffle with the league regarding his lawsuit is irrelevant with his clear skills and qualities as a coach. Defensively, he’s legit, and more importantly, he’s versatile. The main issue plaguing the 22-23 Vikings defense was its stubborn nature in sticking to the schemes that just clearly weren’t working. Flores will surely be a breath of fresh air, but there’s still one slight issue.
There’s Still a Lack of Talent on Defense
To say the Viking’s defense is undermanned and depleted would be an understatement. Kwesi has his DC, now he needs to give him something to work with. The current unit, flat out, won’t get it done regardless of his talents as a defensive mind. Kwesi now needs to focus on bringing in young, athletic talent across the board, and the staff as a whole need to focus on the development of the young players that they had just drafted. Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr haven’t seen enough of the field to judge them properly, and Brian Asamoah hasn’t seen the field nearly as much as he should’ve considering the talent he clearly has. Minnesota needs to fulfill their obligation of developing the players they had just drafted, the benefits of which will pay off by every measure.
Final Thoughts
Brian Flores, the supposed “dream hire”, is finally here. A bright, young defensive mind that’ll surely balance out the team with a competent offense and defense working hand in hand to take Minnesota to the promised land. Talent needs to be brought in and developed, but this is a huge step in the right direction for the defense. There’s still the question mark at the quarterback position, among other factors, but that isn’t Flores’ responsibility. Minnesota, you have a defensive coordinator. Hopefully he stays longer than a year.
