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The Potential Landing Spots for Brian Flores as a Head Coach
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- The Potential Landing Spots for Brian Flores as a Head Coach
Kirby Lee
The Minnesota Vikings ' defense has absolutely cooked in the last month, so much so that the Brian Flores head coaching carousel chatter is back from the dead. Until recently, the who's who of NFL reporting did not have Flores front and center for 2026 job openings .
Flores is the type of hire teams turn to when they're tired of excuses, tired of soft defenses, and ready to rewire the building with structure and accountability.
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Now, though, Flores' defense has played too well to ignore, and the man may indeed be in line for a promotion in January or February. He's where he might land.
The Teams That Make the Most Sense for Brian Flores
Head coach landing spots for Flores ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = top destination).
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski watches the field during the second quarter on Oct. 19, 2025, at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland. Stefanski tracked game flow and personnel as Cleveland battled the Miami Dolphins in a midseason matchup with playoff implications. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
Kevin Stefanksi, a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, may keep his job after all. If he does not, however, Cleveland could switch things up by trying on a defensive mastermind, rather than an offense-first head coach in Stefanski.
The Browns are still in a rough financial spot because Deshaun Watson's contract is so ruthless, but Flores could probably right the ship.
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SI.com 's Jeremy Brener wrote about Stefanski earlier this month, "It's hard to win many games in the NFL with the roster the Browns have. This season is a rebuilding one, especially for the younger players on the roster."
"It's about finding which players could develop into long-term options for the team in the years to come when they have a better chance at contending. Stefanski knows this and is still driving the bus, as he needs to. His hope is that he can do the best job that he can for the Browns. Then, he'll let the front office make whatever decision is needed at the end of the season."
The Titans already canned their head coach — they never should have fired Mike Vrabel — so this job will be vacant no matter what. Vrabel and Flores come from the same New England background; perhaps somebody in Tennessee will realize they can restart the clock on Vrabel, but with Flores.
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Tennessee's defense ranks eighth-worst in the NFL per DVOA . Flores would fix that pretty damn quickly.
In 2022, Flores had a head coach interview lined up with the Giants, but they allegedly agreed to hire "the other Brian," Daboll, before even chatting with Flores. Bill Belichick , who has ties to both Brians, is said to have accidentally text messaged Flores a congratulatory note, but he texted the wrong Brian. Flores received the message a few days before his interview. Daboll was later hired.
That exchange was one of the events that prompted Flores to sue the NFL. Maybe the Giants will right their wrongs this time, hire Flores, and Flores can drop the lawsuit — or something like that.
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The Daboll plan clearly didn't work.
Todd Bowles hasn't recently talked like a head coach who's about to be unemployed. That — and his team has facelplaned in the last six weeks.
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell exchanges a postgame embrace with Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles following the Sep. 10, 2023, contest at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The moment reflected mutual respect after Minnesota faced Tampa Bay in an early-season NFC matchup. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Flores could cook with Baker Mayfield and friends in Tampa. The infrastructure and talent are already in place, just waiting for a go-live-and-win-now coach like Flores.
There's a decent chance that the Cardinals fire their head coach, Jonathan Gannon , and get rid of their quarterback, Kyler Murray , in the same offseason.
With that much change, Flores could take over, stabilize a decent Cardinals defense, and find a quarterback in Round 1 of the draft. Arizona currently has the sixth overall pick.
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The Tom Brady connection.
So far, Brady taking over some ownership stake in Las Vegas has not panned out. This offseason, he and the Raiders' front office could get serious by firing Pete Carroll, hiring Flores, and perhaps trading for a quarterback like Kyler Murray.
The Raiders' defense ranks 19th in the league, meaning Flores can likely nudge that group into the Top 10 with the current personnel. The pieces are there.
Brady and Flores worked in the same building in New England for about 10 years. They know each other.
Back-to-back postseason misses tend to force a reckoning. In Cincinnati , that moment feels near.
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After seven years under Zac Taylor, the Bengals look like a team due for recalibration — not a rebuild, but a reallocation of emphasis away from an offense that has plateaued and toward a defense that has quietly become a problem.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow drops back to throw during the fourth quarter on Oct. 15, 2023, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. Burrow guided the offense late as the Bengals closed out a 17–13 win over the Seattle Seahawks in a tightly contested matchup. Mandatory Credit: © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
Joe Burrow makes that possible. The offense is established, self-sustaining, and no longer the fragile centerpiece it once was. It doesn't need a caretaker. It needs upkeep. That shifts the hiring logic. A defensive head coach who can restore balance without touching the quarterback infrastructure suddenly makes sense. Flores checks every box.
The fit isn't just schematic. There's some crossover. Bengals assistant GM Trey Brown crossed paths with Flores years ago in New England's scouting pipeline, a shared history that tends to carry weight when organizations pivot.
It all depends on Taylor's fate and whether Flores would work for a somewhat dysfunctional front office.
