On Monday, the Miami Dolphins named New England Patriots defensive play-caller Brian Flores the team’s new head coach.
Flores will begin the job by putting together his staff. This means finalizing roles for those rumored weeks before leading up to the official hiring. After that, it’s time to get ready to work on free agency and the 2019 NFL Draft.
As Stephen Ross said in his end of season press conference, the Dolphins will be taking a new mentality into team building with a full-on rebuild. The team will go through a rough year or two, no doubt, but will the Dolphins ride out Flores through the whole process.
Brian Flores the Right Man for the Miami Dolphins Head Coaching Job
Trust in Flores
According to NBC Sports ProFootballTalk, Flores signed a five-year, fully guaranteed contract. The five-year deal was a signal of trust and patience the leadership will show with Flores into building a team to sustain long-term success.
During the start of the press conference, Ross said he wanted his head coach to be a leader and he believes he found one in Flores. When Flores took the podium he said something that was a breath of fresh air to Dolfans everywhere. He said he took this job because his vision, as well as that of Ross and general manager Chris Grier, were aligned. This comes after a tumultuous tenure with Adam Gase, Mike Tannenbaum, and Grier who was the low man on the totem pole.
Flores displayed leadership and the ability to overcome obstacles. He displayed the passion needed to take on this rebuild and take the Dolphins to the promise land.
Why Flores Will Succeed?
Play Calling Success
During Super Bowl LIII, Flores dialed up a masterpiece. He was a step ahead of Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay all night. The same McVay that teams like the Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and Cincinnati Bengals tried to find in their own head coach. According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, Flores played a larger role than some assume when it comes to a Bill Belichick coached team. During Super Bowl LII, the Matt Patricia led defense gave up 41 points. Flores’ defense gave up a total of 34 points combined to the number one and two offenses in the NFL between the AFC Championship game and Super Bowl. After the Super Bowl, Bill Belichick credited Flores for dialing up the blitz that led to the biggest play in the game, the Stephon Gilmore interception.
Resume
Coaches with a diverse background will help all the moving parts of a rebuilding team. Flores’ background is exactly that, diverse. In 2004, he joined the Patriots’ organization as a scouting assistant before becoming a pro scout from 2006-2008. After that, he joined the coaching staff as an assistant until 2010. He was then an offensive assistant and special teams coach. In 2011, he took on a defensive assistant role. By the next year, Flores was promoted to safeties coach for the next four seasons. The next three seasons, Flores took over the linebackers and in the past season was the defensive play caller. This diversity of roles and on all three facets of the game will help a leader understand in depth his whole football team.
Before becoming a scout and coach, Flores played four seasons at Boston College. Starting two as a linebacker, Flores was a three-year letter winner and a part of a senior class that went to four bowl games in four years.
Upbringing
Brian Flores has faced adversity his whole life. His upbringing story is not only amazing but made him into the man he is today. As a child of Honduran immigrants, Flores grew up in a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He faced every challenge head-on, never shied away from a challenge, and stayed true to himself, by trusting and attacking each day as if it was his last.
This type of upbringing was displayed as he rose to through the ranks of the Patriots organization to now become the head coach of an NFL team.
Flores has become a success story, even with all odds stacked against him. The Dolphins have been mediocre for 20 plus years and with all odds stacked against them and with a rebuild staring at them, Flores is the right person to lead them to the promised land.
