Brian Flores’ hire could lead to Miami becoming the first NFL franchise with a Black GM, Assistant GM, HC, DC and Assistant HC.
Patriots linebackers coach/defensive play-caller Brian Flores is multitasking to the fullest these days.
As he takes in meetings with Bill Belichick to design the perfect defense to stop the high-octane LA Rams in Super Bowl 53 and contemplates the crucial defensive calls he will make, Flores is also situating his staff for when he assumes the head coaching position with the Miami Dolphins.
Top 10 decisions facing incoming Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores https://t.co/DlXsP2z9Dg
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) January 23, 2019
Flores’ hire will kick into motion a chain of hirings that could make Miami the first team in NFL history to field a Black General Manager, Assistant GM, Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator and offensive Assistant HC. It shows tremendous growth and bravery by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross to set a fresh cultural tone and new foundation, based on a formula for success that doesn’t include any boundaries.
The way Flores prevailed in a masterful duel of Black, rising coaching minds against Kansas City’s lauded OC Eric Bieniemy in the AFC Championship game had to thrill Miami and African-American GM Chris Grier, who sat with Flores for a second interview on Wednesday.
Reports say the two discussed a plan going forward and potential coaching assistants.
Dolphins Rumors: Miami to Hire Packers' Patrick Graham as DC for Brian Flores https://t.co/NoGOLaWpoH #football
— Perfect Pervis (@PerfectPervis) January 23, 2019
Flores is looking at African-American coach Patrick Graham who coached the Green Bay linebackers last season as his defensive coordinator. Graham has been around and deserves this shot. He was the defensive line coach for the New York Giants in 2016 and 2017, after spending 2009-2015 with the Patriots
ICYMI–> Jim Caldwell is expected to join Brian Flores’ staff in Miami https://t.co/ubodNML86z via @thephinsider
— The Phinsider (@thephinsider) January 16, 2019
Veteran guru and former Super Bowl head coach Jim Caldwell is also expected to join the staff as an offensive assistant/assistant head coach.
The OG’s guidance will be invaluable for the young Flores as well as the incoming offensive coordinator. That’s the hardest position for black coaches to get because there’s no consistent pipeline for it.
The #Patriots WRs coach Chad O’Shea is expected to be OC and join Brian Flores with the #Dolphins. A very well-thought of assistant https://t.co/7D3Z2hml6i
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 24, 2019
The Dolphins are giving Grier, the league’s lone Black GM now that Ozzie Newsome is serving as a Ravens consultant after an extraordinary career, total control of the roster and the head coaching search. Grier’s influence has grown behind the scenes during his 20 years with the Dolphins organization.
Via palmbeachpost.com, “The one time each year Grier, 48, hasn’t been behind the scenes is the past three drafts, which, pieced together, offer a clear picture of how he plans to lay the foundation sorely needed.
Grier’s mentors include Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, all of whom have won championships holding the same type of gavel Ross handed to Grier, whose official title remains general manager. Even though it’s Grier’s first time as ultimate authority, he knows how the league’s best wield it. And how they don’t.”
Grier was an intern and scout under Belichick from 1994-2000. Then, with the Dolphins, he served under Parcells, who was the team’s executive vice president of football operations, and Saban. Grier, who now has total control of Miami’s football operations, hired African-American Marvin Allen to be his assistant GM.
Allen spent about two years with the Bills, joining the team in May of 2017 as a scout staffer. He was the Director of College Scouting for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2013-2017, and has been an NFL scout since the 1990’s.
The @MiamiDolphins Dolphins are scheduled to conduct a second interview with Brian Flores later this evening. This meeting is mostly about formulating a plan to start his era with Chris Grier.
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) January 23, 2019
Flores is the final piece. Without him, Graham and Caldwell probably never make it to Miami. Most reports say it’s all but a done deal.
Under league rules, Flores can’t negotiate with Miami until the Patriots season is over, which means after the Super Bowl. When he assumes the helm, he will be the second-youngest coach in the NFL at 37 years old.
33-year-old Sean McVay, the latest young genius of offensive play calling in the NFL, will be the ultimate test for Flores and his championship game abilities.
Logistically, it may have been better for the Patriots to lose in the AFC Championship, because Miami already knows they want to hire Flores and the NFL Draft and training camp creeps closer with each day.
Growing under the tutelage of the great Bill Belichick for over a decade gives Flores a nice head start, but a young head coach entering his first season needs all of the preparation he can get.
Brian Flores is the New England Patriots' next coaching star to emerge from Bill Belichick's tree https://t.co/2zcg2fKmXZ
— Dez Black (@DezBlackCoach) January 21, 2019
Once the Patriots fate in the Super Bowl is served, Flores won’t have much time to form his staff and get familiar with his roster, along with the players the franchise is targeting in April’s Draft.
He does, however, get to put a tight bow on a Patriots career that dates back to 2004. On Super Bowl Sunday, all that he’s learned will be on display as the defensive play-caller for a Dynasty franchise.
Flores is saving the day for Black coaches who were fired or shut out of the other seven head coach openings this offseason. The kid from the projects of Brownsville is now leading a new wave in Miami with a chance to usher in an unprecedented era of black coaching excellence.
