Flores' potential departure sparks debate. Should the Vikings keep their established coach or gamble on defensive brilliance? An analyst weighs in.
The Minnesota Vikings (9-8) have a coaching conundrum. Some are suggesting they may even have a coaching controversy.
As news that defensive coordinator Brian Flores may leave has circulated through the NFL media landscape, it has some concerned over what that means for the future of the Vikings franchise. Some are even suggesting it might mean that Minnesota needs to promote Flores. Of course, that could only be done by replacing head coach Kevin O'Connell.
It does not take a rocket scientist to come up with reasons for why that would be a bad move. O'Connell's tenure in Minnesota has been largely successful including a 14-3 season a year ago. This year's short blip on the radar mostly involved growing pains from starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Whether or not McCarthy's struggles were inevitable or unavoidable, O'Connell's one year of struggle does not undermine his overwhelmingly positive time as head coach of the Vikings. Yet there is a notion among some Vikings fans that Flores is more indispensable than O'Connell.
Dustin Baker of "Vikings Territory" makes the case that replacing O'Connell is not the right move. Baker wrote the following of O'Connell and Flores in Minnesota.
"Since O’Connell took over, his team has reached the postseason twice in four seasons. It also has the NFL’s fifth-best overall win percentage. That does not grow on trees.
In fact, several other franchises would do evil things to obtain a coach who has fostered a Top 5 win percentage in the NFL. The Vikings may be the laughingstock of all sports, in general, if they canned the guy who won Coach of the Year 11 eleven months ago and also has a Top 5 win rate.
Flores, on the other hand, produced a 24-25 win-loss record (.489) in three seasons with the Dolphins."
Nobody objective denies that Flores is a good football coach or that he could even become a good head coach. But as great as Flores is, the Vikings already have a good head coach in Kevin O'Connell right now.
Moving away from O'Connell to retain Flores would not necessarily be a permanent fix for the Vikings' 2025 woes or set them up to be better in 2026. They would have the same great defensive leadership, only without O'Connell's offensive ingenuity and still the same project at quarterback in J.J. McCarthy. In short, that does not add up to a winning recipe.
Flores is likely to end up a head coach soon. There is a great chance he will do very well. Flores just might not be coaching the Vikings next season.