Jets interview Vikings DC Flores for their head coaching job

The New York Jets interviewed Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley on Friday for their head coach vacancy.

The trio increased the list to 15 coaching candidates to meet with the Jets, who have also conducted 15 interviews for their general manager job.

The 43-year-old Flores has been running Minnesota's defense the last two seasons after a stint as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for Pittsburgh in 2022. That came after he was Miami's head coach for three years, going 24-25 with the Dolphins and making no postseason appearances before being fired.

On Feb. 1, 2022, Flores filed a federal lawsuit against the league, the Dolphins, the Giants and the Denver Broncos. Flores, who is Black, alleged racist hiring practices for leadership positions across the NFL.

Last week, Flores said he would continue to pursue his goal of being a head coach again in the league, but added that he has enjoyed his time with the Vikings, “so it would have to be the right situation to leave for me and my family.”

He added that he would accept any requests this offseason from teams interested in hiring him as a head coach. In addition to the Jets, the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to interview Flores for their coaching vacancies.

“It’s no different to me than any other interview setting in any other industry: Is the vibe, is the energy, is the connection something that you think will be an environment that you can predict that will be a winning environment?” Flores said last week. “There’s a lot of people involved in that and there’s a synergy you have to have, so I’m kind of looking for that type of synergy also.”

New York has also interviewed Aaron Glenn, Vance Joseph, Mike Locksley, Matt Nagy, Ron Rivera, Darren Rizzi, Rex Ryan, Bobby Slowik, Arthur Smith, Steve Spagnuolo, Jeff Ulbrich and Mike Vrabel for the job. Vrabel has since been hired by New England as its coach.

Flores, a New York native, began his NFL career in New England's scouting department for four years before joining Bill Belichick's coaching staff as a special teams assistant in 2008. He worked in a variety of other roles on Belichick's staff during his 11-year stint, including serving as the Patriots' safeties coach (2012-15) and linebackers coach (2016-18) before being hired by Miami.

Hafley, a New Jersey native, just completed his first season as the Packers’ defensive coordinator, leading a unit that finished ranked fifth overall.

Before being hired by Mike LaFleur in Green Bay, the 45-year-old Hafley was the head coach at Boston College. The Eagles went 22-26 in four seasons under Hafley and received three bowl game invitations.

He previously worked as Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach for one season after NFL stops as an assistant in Tampa Bay, Cleveland and San Francisco. Hafley began his coaching career with a stint at Worcester Polytechnic in 2001 before working at Albany, Pittsburgh and Rutgers.

The 45-year-old McCown spent this season coaching the Vikings' quarterbacks, including Sam Darnold — who was his teammate with the Jets in 2018. McCown also served in the same role for Carolina in 2023.

McCown was a well-traveled but highly respected quarterback during a lengthy playing career. He started 76 games over 16 NFL seasons and threw for 17,731 yards with 98 touchdown passes and 82 interceptions in 102 career appearances.

After starting 13 games for the Jets in 2017, McCown served mainly as a backup and mentor to Darnold in the No. 3 overall pick's rookie season. They were reunited in Minnesota this season, with McCown helping Darnold have a career year with 4,319 yards passing, 35 touchdown throws and a 66.2% completion percentage — all personal bests.

___

AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell in Eagan, Minnesota, contributed to this report.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL