'Aggressive by nature,' Brian Flores follows his gut for chance to remake Vikings defense

Everything Brian Flores heard from his three children steered his coaching search toward the Vikings. His 6-year-old daughter, Liliana, took her first steps five years ago at U.S. Bank Stadium, on photo day at Super Bowl LII while Flores was a Patriots assistant. For his two boys, Miles (age 10) and Max (age 9), it was "Minnesota and Minnesota only."

"They're big Justin Jefferson fans," said the Vikings' new defensive coordinator. "So when we accepted the position, there was a lot of Griddying going on."

Flores pulled his name out of the Cardinals' head coaching search and accepted the Vikings' job for deeper reasons, though. He'd left his interview in Minnesota on Jan. 26 believing the Vikings were a team with which he could grow as a coach. He felt Kevin O'Connell, the second-year head coach Flores first met as a Patriots rookie quarterback in 2008, shared his football philosophy. At the end, he said, he trusted his instinct.

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