The NFL’s annual day of reckoning for head coaches across the league is just four days away. In anticipation of the fabled “Black Monday,” the NFL Players’ Association has released an anonymous player poll of team coordinators in which players were asked to rate the coordinators they’ve played for on a scale from 1-10.
Two Vikings coordinators faired well in the inaugural report.
Matt Daniels finished No. 3 among special teams coordinators, while Brian Flores came in fourth among defensive coordinators. The NFLPA asked over 1,700 players to rate their coordinators.
NFLPA president JC Tretter told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that his hope is that the anonymous feedback “will give teams more information as they look to hire not just great football minds, but great leaders and people.”
As the hiring cycle approaches, this is interesting: The NFL Players Association asked over 1,700 players to rate the coordinators they play for on a scale of 1-10.
Here are the top five at each spot, including the No. 1 overall vote-getter: #Lions DC Aaron Glenn. pic.twitter.com/1RuFpXXawc
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 4, 2024
Tretter also added that “guys in the top-5 list pretty clearly appeal to almost everybody in their locker room.”
Daniels joined the Vikings as the special teams coordinator in 2022 after being an assistant special teams coach for the Los Angeles Rams from 2018-19 and for the Dallas Cowboys from 2020-21.
Flores has made an instant impact on the Vikings defense in his first season as the team’s defensive coordinator. Under Ed Donatell in 2022, the Vikings finished 29th in points allowed and 31st in yards allowed. Just one season later, despite an exodus of veteran talent, the Vikings are 12th in points allowed and 17th in yards allowed.
Flores has been rumored to be in line for a head coaching vacancy this offseason. It would be his second stint as a head coach in the league after going 24-25 as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach from 2019-21. While the Vikings’ defensive turnaround has been impressive and deserving of a head coaching gig, Flores might have difficulty landing another top job while he has a pending legal case against the league.
