Mike Tomlin gave Brian Flores a job when no one else in the NFL would. Tomlin is adamant Flores is capable of becoming an NFL head coach again. The one-time Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach now in the role as Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, Flores got a vote of confidence from Tomlin, who vouched for the job Flores did the first time around in the Dolphins head role.
“I thought he did a successful job of it the first time around, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said of Flores via the team’s YouTube channel. “His willingness to learn is a really attractive component of coach Flores.”
After a successful stint as a New England Patriots’ assistant coach, the Miami Dolphins hired Flores as their head coach in 2019. In three years with the team, he compiled a 24-25 record. But that includes a tough 5-11 first season. In 2020, the team went 10-6 and narrowly missed out on the playoffs and went 9-8 in 2021, salvaging a 1-7 start. Flores’ dismissal came as a surprise. He was the first Dolphins coach to put together back-to-back winning seasons since 2002-03, and the team’s strong finish showed the locker room hadn’t quit on him.
Flores filed lawsuits against the Dolphins, multiple other teams, and the NFL. He alleged Miami owner Stephen Ross attempted to bribe Flores by losing more games in order to gain a higher draft pick. He also claimed ownership wanted him to tamper and try to sign Tom Brady, a move Flores says he refused to comply with. That refusal led to his firing, he alleged. Other reports countered by noting Flores’ icy relationship with QB Tua Tagovailoa.Â
His lawsuit led him to be frozen out by NFL teams who did not want to hire a coach filing multiple lawsuits around the league and against the NFL itself. As Tomlin once revealed during an episode on The Pivot podcast, he did not initially plan to hire Flores. But realizing the rest of the league refused to, Tomlin added Flores as an assistant/linebackers coach.
“We had some awesome discussions during our time together,” Tomlin said during his press conference. “He certainly has opinions. Schematic opinions, strategic opinions, personnel opinions. But his openness to differing thoughts or viewpoints, I think is a weapon for him as a coach.”
Flores spent the 2021 season with Pittsburgh, citing that time with Tomlin and the organization as valuable. He left the following year, taking the Vikings’ coordinator job. Since, he’s been among the NFL’s best defensive minds. In 2023, Minnesota ranked 13th in scoring defense. In 2024, the unit jumped to 5th-best. Through three games of 2025, the Vikings sit 9th and are coming off a dominant win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Over that span, Minnesota has been among the league-leaders in sacks and turnovers. Aaron Rodgers struggled against Flores’ Vikings in an international game last season, throwing three picks and taking three sacks in a loss.
Flores is regarded as one of the NFL’s most creative and inventive defensive coordinators whose chaotic-looking schemes stress every level of offenses.
“And so I think that’s why you oftentimes you see them do a wide variety of things schematically,” Tomlin said. “I think it first starts with an attitude or an openness to new things or to learning and discovery.”
Tomlin’s never held back sharing thoughts on who should be among the NFL’s head coaches of tomorrow. He went on record multiple times supporting Raheem Morris’ bid to get another chance after his stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Morris was hired by the Atlanta Falcons last season. His comments about Flores fall in a similar category.
It remains to be seen if Flores will receive his next chance, too. In a hypothetical where Mike Tomlin is no longer the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach in the next few years, Flores might be a top candidate to fill his shoes.
