When the Minnesota Vikings announced earlier this month that assistant head coach Mike Pettine had decided to retire, it undoubtedly caught many by surprise, as the declaration seemed somewhat abrupt for a guy with more than two decades of NFL coaching experience.
However, given some recent comments made by Pettine, who served as the Green Bay Packers' defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2020, there now seems to be a bit more clarity on the situation, as the 59-year-old revealed that he didn't have the greatest relationship with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who some saw as a possible option to replace Jeff Hafley.
Flores recently re-signed with Minnesota, but will only return to the Vikings if he doesn't secure one of the many head coaching jobs that are still up for grabs. In an appearance on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show earlier this week, Pettine was asked his thoughts about the prospect of Flores landing one of those vacancies, and his response made it crystal clear that he's not a big fan of his now-former colleague.
"Probably not many that I would prefer to share," Pettine said. "I mean, we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things, and that's why I spent this past year on offense. I was there in '24 and '25, or '23 and '24 on defense, so I'll take the high road on that one."
Alrighty then.
Mike Pettine raises even more questions with comments about Brian Flores
As to what Pettine meant when he said he spent the 2025 campaign on offense, the Vikings promoted Thad Bogardus to outside linebackers coach ahead of the season, a role Pettine took on when assistant coach Mike Smith took a personal leave in 2023 and maintained in 2024. As such, Pettine was moved into a role intended to provide a defensive perspective to the offensive coaching staff.
Naturally, many are now speculating that Pettine's duties were changed due to his rocky relationship with Flores. And there are certainly plenty of people who now believe that Pettine was effectively forced to leave, as the Vikings perhaps thought they'd have a better shot of bringing Flores back if he was gone.
But again, that's mere speculation, as Pettine has stated his desire to spend more time with his children and grandchildren. However, he also hasn't ruled out a potential return to the league down the line, saying, "I don't know if I can declare this as being a permanent thing." He took a year off following his two-season stint as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, and that may be what he ends up doing before exploring a possible comeback in 2027.
Just don't expect him to end up wherever Flores is at that time.