UPDATE: 5:00 PM ET —

Dulac misreported the details surrounding Flores’ interview. The Steelers skipped over a virtual meeting with him and McCarthy and are going straight to in-person this week due to their familiarity with both candidates.

Clarification: Mike McCarthy and Brian Flores will meet in person with the Steelers this week. Virtual interviews not needed because the team already has familiarity with each candidate. https://t.co/55y2KdhWx1

— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) January 18, 2026

Read the original story below.

Minnesota Vikings DC Brian Flores is set to becomes the first head coach candidate to get a second interview with the Pittsburgh Steelers according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac.

“Steelers will talk to former Packers coach Mike McCarthy and have a second in-person interview with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores this week as they search for Mike Tomlin’s replacement, per sources,” Dulac wrote.

Steelers will talk to former Packers coach Mike McCarthy and have a second in-person interview with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores this week as they search for Mike Tomlin’s replacement, per sources.

— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) January 18, 2026

His in-person interview with the Steelers was already reported by Ian Rapoport on Saturday, but now it’s being clarified by Dulac as a second interview. This means there was a virtual interview held at some point over the last few days since he was announced as an interview request on Jan. 14.

Dulac wrote via P-G that he “already had a phone interview with the Steelers, but he is expected to meet in person with team president Art Rooney II and general manager Omar Khan sometime this week.”

The virtual interview portion is more exploratory and information gathering than anything. Given that Flores already spent a year with the Steelers as their LBs coach in 2022, that part of the process probably wasn’t as important.

Flores is one of just two candidates on the list that has previous head coaching experience at the moment alongside former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers HC Mike McCarthy. Other than that, he fits the profile of what the Steelers have typically hired in a head coach. He is relatively young at 44 years old and has a defensive background like Mike Tomlin, Bill Cowher, and Chuck Noll before him.

With the divisional round wrapping up, all currently employed coaches are free to travel for in-person interviews unless their team is still in the playoffs. For the Steelers, that leaves just Nate Scheelhaase and Chris Shula that they may have to wait for, pending the results of Sunday nights’ Rams-Bears game.

Check out the original candidate request below for a more in-depth look at Flores’ bio and resume.