Brian Flores Is Still Tinkering With His Defense

After three seasons coaching the Miami Dolphins, Brian Flores spent a year as Mike Tomlin’s senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. Flores tends to borrow from the people around him, and he brought one of Tomlin’s sayings to the Twin Cities: “Not every meal is a banquet.”

“That's stolen completely,” Flores admitted in August last year. “He mentioned it to the D-line in Pittsburgh. Not every play is going to be a sack.”

Flores developed his defense in Foxborough, where he coached under Bill Belichick from 2008 until the Dolphins hired him in 2019. However, he’s taken things from every step in his coaching journey. Flores builds his defense around his players and wants them to own it. He wants them to ask questions and make suggestions.

“We do talk about certain things,” said Jonathan Greenard, who the Vikings added in free agency this offseason. “And, yeah, I'll go and say, ‘Hey, look, what do you think about this? I mean, when we did this here, we did it for this play because he was in the same situation, he was in the same predicament,’ and see how certain things could work.

“He's all ears.”

The gruff Belichick disciple might have fooled opposing quarterbacks with his Bengal Hawk blitz last year. Still, Flores knows he doesn’t have all the answers and solicits suggestions from his players. Greenard is a natural resource for Flores because he played under Todd Grantham at Florida and Louisville, and Grantham runs a similar system.

“I've been around coaches that don't want to hear anything. They're like, ‘Hey, look, you just line up and play,’” said Greenard.

“But this is open book because he makes you learn the system so much to where you understand how teams are going to attack you. So, when you're watching this film, and you see something that's on film, like, oh, well, ‘Hey, what are we going to do for this?’ He's always open book. And if it makes sense, it might get put in.”

Flores has learned a lot about defense on his road from Boston to Minnesota, but he’s also picked up a few nails in his hires. On a podcast with Dan LeBatard, Tua Tagovailoa called him a “terrible person” and criticized his coaching style. Flores is also suing the NFL for hiring discrimination against Black coaches and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross for allegedly paying him to lose games.

Tagovailoa’s allegations feed the narrative that Belichick’s former coaches don’t make good head coaches, unlike Sean McVay or Andy Reid’s coaching trees. His allegations also further the notion that defensive coaches have difficulty connecting with quarterbacks, often disqualifying them from being head coaches in a pass-heavy league.

Flores didn’t get any head coaching interviews over the summer, even though Minnesota’s undermanned defense finished 11th in DVOA. That was likely related to the lawsuit rather than Tagovailoa's comments in August. Still, that has to be discouraging for Flores, who’s qualified to be an NFL head coach.

However, any bitterness or resentment Flores may have hasn’t carried over into Minnesota’s meeting rooms. He solicits his players’ suggestions and turns anything he pushes back on into a coaching tool.

“If he likes it, it's going in,” Greenard said. “If not, you're always going to have a reason why he would shoot it down. Maybe [it’s], ‘We don't need to do it [in this situation]. You got to keep him honest here.’

“Maybe we have to do this instead of that because it would just kind of maybe mess up the integrity of the defense. But in general, [Flores has] always been like that. I mean, well, so far, that's all I can [say]. I've been loving that ever since.”

Flores says he likes what Greenard has to offer.

“He's a team guy,” said Flores. “Got a lot of ideas. Got a lot of things, and there's a lot of football chatter and dialogue with him, which I like.”

Greenard says he’ll sometimes speak up for the younger players who are more reticent or unsure of their standing with the team. However, Greenard believes Flores is doing what he can to create open dialogue. Flores preaches defensive principles, but he caters the defense to each player. Josh Metellus has a unique, positionless role, and Flores leans heavily on veterans like Harrison Smith.

The Cincinnati Bengals cracked the code on Flores’ defense last year, so he must change his system to keep games close this season. Fortunately, adding Dallas Turner, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman, and Greenard should help. It goes beyond their talent, though. Flores wants them to help him improve the defense. Not every meal is a banquet, but he’s willing to listen because he knows everyone brings something to the table.