Steelers' Mike Tomlin not surprised by success Brian Flores is having as Vikings defensive coordinator

When Brian Flores filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL in February 2022, Mike Tomlin offered a lifeline.

Flores left the Pittsburgh Steelers after one season to become the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, and he will meet up with Tomlin and some of his former players Sunday when the teams play in Dublin.

Tomlin still isn’t sure why Flores was out of work when he hired the former Miami Dolphins coach three-and-a-half years ago.

“I thought he did a successful job of it the first time around,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.

Flores was fired after going 24-25 in three seasons with the Dolphins. In his third year, Miami started 1-7 but won eight of its final nine games to finish 9-8. Less than a month after he was let go, Flores filed a class-action suit, alleging discrimination in the league’s hiring of minority coaches and executives.

The lawsuit remains unresolved.

Tomlin hired Flores to coach linebackers and be a senior defensive assistant, and he wasn’t surprised that Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell hired him as defensive coordinator after the 2022 season.

“His willingness to learn is a really attractive component of coach Flores,” Tomlin said. “We had some awesome discussions during our time together. He certainly has opinions, schematic opinions, strategic opinions, personnel opinions. His openness to different thoughts and viewpoints is a weapon for him as a coach.”

Under Flores’ guidance, the Vikings rank sixth in total defense and are No. 3 defending the pass. The Vikings lead the NFL with seven forced fumbles and are coming off a game in which they held the Cincinnati Bengals to 10 points.

The 2-1 Vikings have allowed 18.7 points per game through three weeks after ranking fifth in the NFL last year at 19.5 ppg.

Although Tomlin is familiar with Flores’ coaching style, he said, “it doesn’t make the preparation process or playing against it any less difficult. He’s very multiple in his schemes and thoughtful. He attacks protections from a passing game perspective and does it very well.”

Highsmith out

Nick Herbig will make his second consecutive start at outside linebacker Sunday. He will replace Alex Highsmith, who was ruled out Tuesday by Tomlin with a high ankle sprain.

Herbig subbed for Highsmith in the Steelers’ 21-14 victory last Sunday at New England and had a crucial strip-sack that represented the fifth takeaway and set up the winning touchdown drive.

Herbig led the Steelers with four quarterback hits in the game.

Tomlin said cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and strong safety DeShon Elliott could return. Each player has missed the past two games because of injury after being hurt in the opener.

Cornerback Darius Slay could miss practice time because of a leg contusion he sustained against New England. Tomlin, though, expects Slay to play against the Vikings.

Seeing red

For all the offensive issues the Steelers had against New England, they were perfect when driving inside the Patriots’ 20. The Steelers got touchdowns all three times they penetrated the red zone.

Through three weeks, the Steelers have gotten touchdowns on seven of eight trips inside the 20. They are second in the NFL with an 87.5 success rate.

“I love the way we’re operating in the red zone offensively,” Tomlin said. “You need that. You need to kick extra points as opposed to field goals. I like our overall trajectory there. We’re spreading the ball around to a lot of people.”

Tomlin credited the turnaround to several factors, one being four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. He also said the Steelers are more accustomed to Arthur Smith’s system in his second season as offensive coordinator.

“We have some new unique tools,” Tomlin said.