The Ravens have completed an interview with Minnesota Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores for their head coach opening.
Here are five things to know about Flores:
He is an elite defensive mind.
In his three seasons with the Vikings, Flores has orchestrated some of the top defenses in the league, predicated on disguised rushes and coverages.
Minnesota allowed the third-fewest yards per game (282.6) this season and had a six-game stretch where it didn't allow a passing touchdown, the first time a defense did that since 1988.
Flores gets the most out of the personnel he has. Similar to how the Ravens deployed Kyle Hamilton in a variety of ways, Flores gave 14-year veteran safety Harrison Smith free rein this season. After defeating the Cowboys this season, Smith said playing on Flores' defense is "so much fun."
"There's a lot of things in the defense that 'Flo' kind of builds in and allows us to be a little creative and flexible with," Smith said. "When you have a bunch of guys that understand the game, who can communicate on a high level, it allows us to do some things that I haven't done in my whole career."
Last season, when the Vikings finished 14-3, Flores' defense allowed the fifth-fewest points per game (19.5) and was tied for the league lead with 33 takeaways. Flores was named a finalist for The Associated Press Assistant Coach of the Year award.
Blitzing is a staple of his scheme.
Defensive schemes that rely heavily on blitzing can often be feast-or-famine, and Flores' unit usually feasts.
The Vikings were tied for the fourth-most sacks (49) in 2024 and 2025. Since Flores took over the defense in Minnesota, the Vikings have blitzed the most of any team at 46.9%, over 8% higher than the next closest team in that time span, according to Next Gen Stats. Minnesota had the NFL's highest pressure rate (41.4%) this season.
In 2024, Flores helped edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel receive their first career Pro Bowl nods after combining for 23.5 sacks.
The Ravens are familiar with Flores' aggressive nature after facing him this season, when Lamar Jackson was pressured on 38.2% of his dropbacks, and in 2021, when Flores held the Ravens to 10 points and badgered Jackson and the offense with a flurry of cover-zero blitzes.
He has head coaching experience.
Flores received his first head coach job with the Miami Dolphins, whom he led from 2019-2021.
The Brooklyn, N.Y., native posted a 24-25 record over his three seasons and was fired after a 9-8 campaign in 2021, the second straight year he led the Dolphins to a winning record. The Dolphins rallied from a 1-7 start that season.
Prior to Flores, the last time the Dolphins had back-to-back seasons with a winning record was 2003.
After parting ways with Flores, Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross said, "An organization can only function if it's collaborative, and it works well together. And I don't think that we were really working well as an organization [the way] it would take to really win consistently at the NFL level."
He's familiar with the AFC North.
After his stint in Miami, Flores spent the 2022 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers as the senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach.
Before the Steelers' game against the Vikings this season, Mike Tomlin gave an endorsement for Flores to receive another shot at being a head coach.
"You know, I think he did a successful job of it the first time around, to be quite honest with you," Tomlin said. "His willingness to learn is a really attractive component of Coach Flores. We had some awesome discussions during our time together. 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."
He is a Bill Belichick disciple.
Flores got his coaching start with the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick as a scouting assistant.
He spent his first 15 seasons in the NFL in New England, climbing his way up to the safeties coach and then linebackers coach before taking the Dolphins job.
Flores coached in all three phases during his Patriots tenure, helping the franchise win four of its six Super Bowls.
