Steelers lose senior defensive assistant Brian Flores to Vikings
The Pittsburgh Steelers are losing their senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach after one season.
Brian Flores, who joined the Steelers staff last offseason after being fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, accepted a position with the Minnesota Vikings as defensive coordinator Monday.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin added Flores to his staff just weeks after Flores filed a racial discrimination suit against the NFL and all 32 of its teams. Working with defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Flores helped oversee a defense that finished No. 13 in yards allowed, No. 9 against the run (an improvement from No. 32 the previous year) and tied for No. 10 in points allowed.
Flores is the second Steelers assistant coach to leave the organization since the end of the regular season. Assistant wide receivers coach Blaine Stewart joined the college staff at West Virginia.
“He’s a great coach,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said after the season. “I remember when the news got out that he was coming here. I was super excited because I’d met him before at the (NFL) combine and interviews and stuff. He’s such a great coach, football minded. He wants the best out of each one of his guys. He’s definitely added so much value to our defense. He’s definitely been one of our good coaches.”
The Steelers created the position for Flores last year because they had an opening on staff. His departure doesn’t mean the Steelers will replace his role on defense. Team president Art Rooney II didn’t discount the Steelers adding an offensive assistant to work with third-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
“I wouldn’t take anything off the table,” Rooney said Jan. 26, adding, “The coaching staff, there could still be changes to it.”
Flores also interviewed for the Arizona Cardinals head coaching job and with the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos for their defensive coordinator positions.
Before he was hired as head coach of the Dolphins in 2019, Flores called the defensive plays for the New England Patriots, although he was not given a coordinator title.
The Steelers will receive no draft pick compensation for Flores accepting the job with the Vikings.
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
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