Patriots Could Reunite With Old Friend for Coaching Job
The New England Patriots have begun their head-coaching search after firing Jerod Mayo, and a very interesting candidate is tossing his name into the ring.
Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator — and former Patriots assistant — Brian Flores.
Flores was asked if he would be intrigued by the idea of coaching the Patriots, to which he replied, "I would say yes," via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.
However, New England has apparently not reached out to Flores, as he added that "it's not up to me" if the Pats would like to talk.
Flores served in the Patriots' organization for over a decade between 2008 and 2018, working in a variety of different roles.
He was ultimately promoted to linebackers coach in 2016, where he served for three seasons before taking the Miami Dolphins' head-coaching job.
Flores coached the Dolphins from 2019 through 2021 and experienced moderated success, posting a couple of winning seasons and going 24-25 overall.
However, Miami did not make any playoff appearances under his direction.
Flores then briefly joined the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he held a position as linebackers coach for one year before heading over to the Vikings.
The 43-year-old has helped Minnesota establish one of the NFL's most ferocious defenses and would certainly be an interesting fit in New England given how much its defense fell off this season.
Of course, right now, Mike Vrabel is largely viewed as the favorite to become the Pats next head coach, so we'll see if Flores actually has a real shot of reuniting with Robert Kraft in Foxborough.
The Patriots went 4-13 this year, representing their second straight campaign with such a record. They have also missed the playoffs in four of the last five seasons.
The once-proud franchise has certainly fallen on hard times.