Brian Flores Says 'Gut Feeling' Drove Him Away From Cardinals Job

The Arizona Cardinals hired Jonathan Gannon as their head coach, yet Brian Flores was once considered the front-runner for the job before heading to Minnesota.

PHOENIX -- New Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon will be speaking with reporters at the team's facility in Tempe in just a few hours. The Cardinals waited until after Super Bowl LVII to hire their successor to Kliff Kingsbury, and Gannon - the last candidate they spoke with - earned the opportunity. 

However, there's an alternate reality out there somewhere that saw Brian Flores notch the job for Arizona. Flores - once considered a front runner for the vacancy - was offered a second interview with the Cardinals before eventually turning it down and heading to Minnesota for the Vikings' defensive coordinator job. 

Flores spent 2022 with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an assistant coach after being fired from the Miami Dolphins after three seasons as their head coach. 

The Cardinals waited too long for his liking, yet they were (reportedly) always going to wait to speak with Gannon until making a final decision. Yet Flores was considered to be one of the stronger candidates for the opening, and admittedly so it was a tad odd to see a coach forego a head coach possibility for a coordinator position. 

Flores touched on just that in his introductory press conference with the Vikings:

“Yeah, I mean there was still an opportunity with Arizona … You almost get a gut feeling. I think we’ve all kind of had those, that this was the place for me and my family. This was the right opportunity," said Flores (view the full presser here).

“It’s funny, I was in church a couple weeks ago as this was all going on. And the pastor in Pittsburgh, he said, ‘In life, there’s instances where you can either have control or you can have growth and you can’t have both.’ [and] that kinda hit me pretty good. I just felt like this was a great opportunity for growth.”

Interesting comments, for sure.

It's unknown if the job was actually offered to Flores, but it's clear his "gut feeling" led him elsewhere. 

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