Brian Flores Gives Direct Statement About His Controversial Departure From The Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season. It is not just any game, as the Steelers will be traveling to Ireland for the contest. This will be the first time Pittsburgh is playing overseas since the 2013 season when the franchise played in London, which was a game that also took place against the Vikings. This is a highly anticipated matchup due to it taking place in Dublin, but there is also an interesting storyline as one of Minnesota's most important coaches used to be on Pittsburgh's sidelines.

Minnesota's defensive coordinator is Brian Flores, and he is widely considered one of the best coordinators on that side of the ball in the NFL. He has plenty of talent in Minnesota, and he has one of the more innovative minds when it comes to disguising coverages and blitzes. Flores served as a senior defensive assistant with the Steelers during the 2022 season, and there was some chatter about him sticking around in Pittsburgh. He wound up taking the job as the defensive coordinator in Minnesota, which has gone well for him. He spoke to the media on Tuesday, where he shared his thoughts on his time with the Steelers.

"This is a great week for me in that l get to go to Dublin, but also get to see my people from the Steelers, Mike Tomlin included," Flores said. "Quite honestly, when I think about him and the Steelers, I have this great gratitude for my time there. I just had a great time there. It was exactly what I needed at that point in my career."

Flores earned a head coaching gig back during the 2019 offseason. He was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019 through the 2021 season, but he was fired. He filed class action lawsuits alleging that he was discriminated against by various teams during their hiring processes, and he also stated that the owner of the Dolphins tried to get Flores to deliberately lose games, even offering him a weekly bonus to do so.

Flores filed the lawsuit at the start of February, and he was probably well aware that he might not be working in the league during the 2022 season. However, just under three weeks later, he was hired by the Steelers. This clearly meant a lot to him and it shows why he has such a strong appreciation for Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin. The coach gave him a chance while he had a lot of things going on off of the field, and it was a great season of growth for Flores.

Now, Flores is one of the best at what he does in the league. He will be a head coaching candidate in every offseason until he is ultimately hired again, but he probably wants to wait for the ideal situation due to the way things went down in Miami. His defense ranked fifth in the NFL during the 2024 season when it came to points allowed, and his group also was first in the league in takeaways.

Steelers' May Still Regret Not Hanging On To Brian Flores

Flores saw an opportunity to advance his career in 2023, and he took it. The Steelers hung on to Teryl Austin as their defensive coordinator, and as of now, that seems like it was a mistake. It probably would have been an unrealistic move to fire Austin and promote Flores during the 2023 offseason, but it is an interesting thing to think about. Flores is able to put his best players in situations to make plays. Austin has repeatedly shown that he cannot do that consistently.

The two coordinators will go head-to-head on Sunday before the Steelers get an early bye week for Week 5.

What do you think about Flores' comments about playing Pittsburgh? Let us know in the comments below!

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