Brian Flores has already had one interview and will more than likely have his second of the offseason for a job outside of Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals have requested permission to interview Flores for their vacant head coach position, according to NFL Network. Earlier this week, the Cardinals fired Kliff Kingsbury after four seasons as head coach.
Flores has already interviewed for the Browns' vacant defensive coordinator position. That took place on Thursday.
Flores was bound to be a hot commodity in the coaching market this offseason. Before accepting the job as senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the Steelers last offseason, Flores spent three seasons as the head coach of the Dolphins, leading them to 10-6 and 9-8 records in the final two years before Miami made the puzzling decision to fire him.
Steelers players raved about Flores and his contributions over the course of the year. And with him on the coaching staff, the Steelers' defense improved from a 24th-ranked group in 2021 to 13th in 2022. The biggest turnaround came on run defense, where the Steelers ranked ninth in the NFL after finishing dead last in rushing yards allowed and yards per carry against in 2021.
Flores has the resume and reputation to be a worthy candidate for any head coach or coordinator position. However, his lawsuit against the NFL, Giants, Broncos and Dolphins for racial discrimination turned teams off from hiring him. Flores was considered to be a finalist for the Texans' head coaching job last offseason, but Houston wound up hiring Lovie Smith. The Texans finished this season with the second-worst record in the league and fired Smith earlier this week.
But, as teams search for worthy coaching candidates, Flores' name will be continually brought up. And based on his qualifications for any coaching job, the Steelers would be awfully lucky to have him on staff for a second year.
The Steelers would not receive any draft compensation if Flores were to take a head coaching job elsewhere because he has not been on the team's staff for two full seasons.
