Jets Ask Permission to Interview Brian Flores, Josh McCown for Head Coach Position

Here we go

With the regular season over with, National Football League teams with head coaching vacancies are looking at potential candidates for those jobs and asking permission to interview those candidates. It’s early in the process, but two members of the Minnesota Vikings’ coaching staff have been targeted already.

The New York Jets have asked the Vikings for permission to interview defensive coordinator Brian Flores and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown for their head coaching vacancy. The Jets fired former head coach Robert Saleh after their loss in London to the Vikings in Week 5 of this season.

That Flores has been asked isn’t a surprise. He somehow didn’t get any interviews last year, and I thought that might have been a function of him still having an active lawsuit against the National Football League, but perhaps teams are overlooking that now. Flores, of course, has previous head coaching experience with the Miami Dolphins, and with what he did with Minnesota’s defense again this season could wind up being a hot candidate.

McCown is a little more surprising. He’s in just his second year as a quarterbacks coach, having served in that role with the Carolina Panthers in 2023 and now with the Vikings this season. It would appear to be a significant leap for him to go from being a quarterbacks coach to the head coaching role this quickly, but that’s what the Jets are asking.

Per NFL rules, a team can not block a coach from interviewing for a head coaching job. However, coaches can’t interview while their seasons are still going on, which means that any interviews that Flores and McCown do will have to wait until after the Vikings’ season is over.

We’ll see if any other teams will be looking to potentially raid the Vikings’ coaching staff to fill their own vacancies, but we now have the first two of the offseason for the purple.

UPDATE: According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Jets have also asked for permission to interview Vikings senior VP or player personnel Ryan Grigson, presumably for their vacant General Manager position.