As the de facto defensive coordinator for the Patriots, it’s reasonable to figure Brian Flores was paid about anywhere from $500,000 to $1M this year.
Now that the Dolphins have “narrowed” their search down to Flores as their next head coach, he’s going to sign a contract that will almost certainly average out at $4M per year.
So what if Flores is just 37.
So what if he was DFDC for only one season.
So what if the Patriots lost a game to the Dolphins – THE TEAM THAT IS GOING TO HIRE HIM?! – when Flores’ defense ambled around the field on the final play of the game until Kenyan Drake got eye-to-eye with Rob Gronkowski of all people and walked past him for a stunning touchdown.
So what if the Patriots defense had its lowest number of sacks (30) since 2000, and allowed more yards per carry (4.9) than in any season since 1973?
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You are Brian Flores and you are supposed to say, what, “I’m not ready yet…”? Yeah, right.
You go on, take Stephen Ross’ money and run and hope you get a helluva lot more latitude to learn on the job than, say, Steve Wilks did out in Arizona. Wilks spent a year as a coordinator, got hired by the Cardinals in January of 2018 and didn’t make it a year before being let go in favor of a guy who never coached in the National Football League (Klifford of Kingsbury).
Last month, Flores spoke frankly with ESPN’s Mike Reiss about his first year running the defense. It was telling that he acknowledged how much he didn’t know about being a coordinator before doing the job this season.
“I’ve learned we have a really great staff, and the importance of each of their roles, and how the things they do are so vital to our success -- guys like [cornerbacks coach] Josh Boyer, [line coach] Brendan Daly, [coaching assistant] DeMarcus Covington, [safeties coach] Steve [Belichick],” Flores told Reiss. That’s been kind of eye-opening. It was a role I had [as linebackers coach] and I enjoyed doing that, but I didn’t realize how important it was until you’re in this spot. You lean on guys for their input. They do such a great job helping me with the game plan. A lot of credit goes to those guys and the players we have. The buy-in on this team -- our veterans, the way they work with the young guys -- it really is a total team effort.”
Now he’s going to have to get his brain around running all facets of the team. And work in conjuncture with GM Chris Grier on personnel. And create a culture in a city that chews coaches up and spits them out with alarming regularity. And get a handle on the salary cap.
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And direct a team tethered to a blah quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, that was led in receiving by 33-year-old Danny Amendola, in rushing by 35-year-old Frank Gore and in sacks by 36-year-old Cameron Wake. (Wake was actually second in sacks but I was on a roll.)
But there is absolutely no other response from Flores that would have been acceptable other than, “Absolutely.”
So when the Patriots season ends, he flies the coop. And the Patriots have lost their second defensive coordinator in two seasons. Not that that’s a bad thing. Neither one evoke comparisons to Buddy Ryan. Still, everyone has to move up a chair, presumably.
So who goes where? Would it be defensive line coach Brendan Daly, cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer or safeties coach Steve Belichick? Or does Belichick go outside the building and reel in Greg Schiano, who was poised to become defensive coordinator last season after Patricia left but stayed at Ohio State?
The other question attached to who comes in for Flores is “who goes with him” to Miami. He will need to surround himself with a capable staff, presumably some of whom are coaching veterans who have more experience in the league than he does. Whether those candidates come from Foxboro or around the NFL remains to be seen. But what’s beyond questioning is whether or not Flores should be taking this leap.
First-time around in a low-expectations job that’s a borderline rebuild? Everything will be gravy.
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