The New York Jets interviewed Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores on Friday for their head coach vacancy.

Flores is the 13th coaching candidate to meet with the Jets, who are also expected to speak to Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.

The 43-year-old Flores has been running Minnesota's defense the last two seasons after a stint as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for Pittsburgh in 2022. That came after he was Miami's head coach for three years, going 24-25 with the Dolphins and making no postseason appearances before being fired.

On Feb. 1, 2022, Flores filed a federal lawsuit against the league, the Dolphins, the Giants and the Denver Broncos. Flores, who is Black, alleged racist hiring practices for leadership positions across the NFL.

Last week, Flores said he would continue to pursue his goal of being a head coach again in the league, but added that he has enjoyed his time with the Vikings, ''so it would have to be the right situation to leave for me and my family.''

He added that he would accept any requests this offseason from teams interested in hiring him as a head coach. In addition to the Jets, the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to interview Flores for their coaching vacancies.

''It's no different to me than any other interview setting in any other industry: Is the vibe, is the energy, is the connection something that you think will be an environment that you can predict that will be a winning environment?'' Flores said last week. ''There's a lot of people involved in that and there's a synergy you have to have, so I'm kind of looking for that type of synergy also.''

New York has also interviewed Aaron Glenn, Vance Joseph, Mike Locksley, Matt Nagy, Ron Rivera, Darren Rizzi, Rex Ryan, Bobby Slowik, Arthur Smith, Steve Spagnuolo, Jeff Ulbrich and Mike Vrabel for the job. Vrabel has since been hired by New England as its coach.

Flores, a New York native, began his NFL career in New England's scouting department for four years before joining Bill Belichick's coaching staff as a special teams assistant in 2008. He worked in a variety of other roles on Belichick's staff during his 11-year stint, including serving as the Patriots' safeties coach (2012-15) and linebackers coach (2016-18) before being hired by Miami.

The Jets are also conducting an extensive search for a new general manager to replace Joe Douglas, who was fired in November. They have interviewed 15 candidates for that position

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AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell in Eagan, Minnesota, contributed to this report.

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