After a disappointing 2025 season, the Detroit Lions are in line for some turnover this offseason. Perhaps most notably when it's all said and done, head coach Dan Campbell will have one new coordinator, if not two.
If one of this season's coordinators is back for next season, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard is clearly the one. He's was a first time coordinator this year, and notable injuries in the secondary give him an easy mulligan.
But as Campbell surveys the entire landscape of the organization, as he promised to do, nothing should be out of bounds. That includes firing or demoting Sheppard, who he holds in very high regard, if there's an experienced defensive coordinator candidate out there. And based on what's happening around the league, as coaching staff changes are made, there are some of those kind of options out there.
A dream coordinator candidate may end up falling right into the Lions' lap
Elsewhere in the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings are also not playoff-bound and entering their offseason. One of the big questions there is the future of defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who does not have a contract for next season.
During an appearance with Dan Barreiro of KFAN radio in Minnesota Monday afternoon, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic talked about Flores. The conversation started with Flores' candidacy for head coaching jobs, including the current buzz tying him to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Then, Krawczynski took things another direction in terms of the "temperature of the water" having changed.
"The second part... there does seem to be some sort of murmurings of discontent, of a butting of heads behind the scenes with other people in the organization, that there is some intrigue about, even if he didn't get the Raiders job or another head coaching job, that there still is a real possibility that Flores could leave for another defensive coordinator job."
"I can't tell you the exact nature of the conflict, or of the drama behind the scenes, but there is something going on that does lead me to believe that it is not a foregone conclusion that he would stay here to be a coordinator, that he could leave to go elsewhere, which I think would be a disaster for the Vikings, and it would be a terrible look," Krawczynski said.
Krawczysnki did not offer firm details about the nature of Flores' conflct with the Vikings, since the couldn't comfortably confirm them alongside the Vikings' beat writer for The Athletic, Alec Lewis. But something is clearly amiss.
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"What I can say is that, yes, there have been conversations around his situation, and just, like, I'll say the whispers that everything is not completely right in that world", Krawczynski said. "And it is more than, it's not just a simple, that if Brian Flores does not take a head coaching job, he's absolutely 100% sure gonna lock down here with the Vikings. There's just more to it. Certainly, Alec and I and others will be looking into that more, but yeah, it's kind of been a talking point around the team that's been circulating for the last 10 days or so."
Beyond any consideration for wanting to get paid more than he has been making, or what the Vikings may be willing to pay him to keep him, the idea of Flores making a lateral move to another defensive coordinator job has generally landed as unlikely. But if he doesn't get a head coaching job, and/or the Vikings drag their feet about retaining him, nothing would stop any team who wants to gauge his interest in being their defensive coordinator from doing so.
With the apparent conflict with the Vikings behind the scenes, whatever it exactly is, Flores is wired in such a way that says he wouldn't mind staying in the NFC North as a defensive coordinator if there were an opportunity.
If all of the numerous stars align, the Lions and Campbell should have no trouble giving Flores an opportunity for a revenge angle.