What’s going on so far?
UPDATE: Grant Udinski will not be the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, as they’ve decided to hire Josh McDaniels. Again.
But Udinski is still alive for the OC position in Seattle. Original story follows.
There have been a couple of new developments pertaining to the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff since we updated you yesterday, so let’s get everyone caught up on those.
First off, our friends over at Pats Pulpit are reporting that the New England Patriots have interviewed Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski for their vacant offensive coordinator position. Udinski has done a virtual interview with the Seattle Seahawks for the OC job there and has been given an opportunity to do a second interview with them. It appears that this is his initial interview with the Patriots, so we’ll have to see if anything develops from that.
On the Brian Flores front, our friends at Big Cat Country have reported that the Jacksonville Jaguars have named a trio of candidates that they will be bringing back for second interviews, and Flores is not among them. Their three candidates are Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, and former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
That makes two of the three teams that Flores did interviews with last week that have ruled out the possibility of hiring him, with the Chicago Bears hiring Ben Johnson yesterday. The other team he interviewed with is the New York Jets, and they appear to be in hot pursuit of Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who they’ve got in town for an interview today.
Flores has not yet interviewed with any of the other three teams who still have head coaching vacancies: the Dallas Cowboys, the Las Vegas Raiders, and the New Orleans Saints. That isn’t to say that he can’t or won’t interview with any of those teams, but he hasn’t yet.
It’s appearing more and more likely, at least at this stage, that Flores will be back for a third season as the defensive coordinator of the Vikings under Kevin O’Connell. We will obviously be keeping an eye out for any news to the contrary, and if any comes down we will pass it along to you.