Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has reportedly been hired by the Minnesota Vikings as their next defensive coordinator, sources with knowledge of the situation told NFL Network Senior Insider Ian Rapoport on Monday (February 6).
Flores, who was fired by the Dolphins after three seasons in 2021, spent the 2022 NFL season working as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"Sources: The #Vikings are set to hire #Steelers senior defensive assistant and LBs coach Brian Flores as their new defensive coordinator," Rapoport tweeted. "He impressed from the beginning and now lands in Minnesota with a task of improving their defense."
Flores took over as Miami's head coach in 2019 after spending 11 seasons as an assistant with the Patriots, which included winning four Super Bowl championships (XXXIX, XLIX, LI and LIII). The 41-year-old went 24-25 during three seasons with the Dolphins, but appeared to be gaining momentum.
Miami finished the 2021 season with a 9-8 record having won eight of his last nine games following a disappointing 1-7 start, which made his termination in January the most surprising of any NFL head coach. Flores, who is Black, filed a lawsuit on February 1, 2022, in Manhattan federal court against the NFL and three teams -- the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos, who Flores later interviewed with for the team's defensive coordinator position this offseason -- alleging racial discrimination during their hiring processes, as well as claiming that Ross offered him $100,000 to per loss during the 2019 season in an effort to "tank" for the highest possible draft pick.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was the NFL's only Black head coach at the time the lawsuit was filed. In the lawsuit, Flores said he interviewed for the then-vacant Giants head coaching job and found out three days prior to his interview that the franchise had instead decided on Brian Daboll, a White former colleague with the New England Patriots, after receiving a congratulatory text from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who he worked under for 11 seasons.
The NFL implements the "Rooney Rule" -- named after late former Steelers owner Dan Rooney -- which requires teams to interview minority coaching candidates for head coach, general manager and executive positions.
Flores' lawsuit accuses the Giants and Broncos of interviewing him solely to meet the "Rooney Rule" requirements while having already decided on White candidates -- with the Giants hiring Daboll and Denver hiring Nathaniel Hackett, who was fired last month after just one season -- during the process.