Brian Flores is a coveted top candidate with some NFL teams after the surprising dismissal in Miami. There’s good reason for that – along with justified criticism.

Munich – Dismissals after a good season are rather rare.

Because usually coaches are spat out on the market after full-blown crises, sporting dry spells or simply a big misunderstanding.

In this respect, Brian Flores is an exception.

And thus a great opportunity for other teams. Because actually 2022 would have been the year Flores reaped the fruits of his labour with the Miami Dolphins. But after internal squabbles, the team surprisingly called it quits after his third season.

Carsten Spengemann: “The worst wrong decision “

“I think that was the worst bad decision Miami has made in recent years,” ran presenter Carsten Spengemann said clearly. “Coach Flores is a good guy. I don’t understand what they are thinking and planning. Good head coaches are few and far between.”

That’s why other teams are now pouncing on the 40-year-old, such as the Houston Texans and the Chicago Bears, who have already spoken to him.

But what does Flores, son of immigrants from Honduras, have to offer?

Cue winning mentality. Because he still knows how winning works from his time with the New England Patriots, he learned it from the bottom up.

Flores had worked his way up – no, out – of Brownsville, a tough neighbourhood in Brooklyn. He made his way out via Boston College and the Patriots, where he climbed the ladder step by step from 2004 onwards, holding seven different positions.

Winning mentality may sound a little sarcastic in view of a 24-25 record in Miami, but the term is entirely justified.

After all, subtract the 5-11 transition season in 2019 with what many experts consider the worst squad in the league, and Flores comes in with a 19-14 stat line.

Dismissal before “make or break” year

The 40-year-old also turned a 1-7 false start in 2021 into a 9-8 run with his team, narrowly missing the playoffs. Which is why 2022 would have been his “make or break” year. Now he can prove elsewhere that he can bring a franchise forward in the long term as a coach.

Where he was definitely a doer in Miami was on defence, his speciality. With the Patriots, he started as a scouting assistant and took on an important role on the staff for the first time as safeties coach in 2012.

He did his masterpiece in early 2019 in the Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams, when he not only won his fourth Super Bowl, but was instrumental in the success as linebackers coach and playcaller for the defense.

Proven defensive specialist

In Miami, he revitalized the struggling defense, molding it from one of the worst units into an increasingly aggressive and productive defense.

Most of the time, his team was better on the field than on paper. He may have learned the hard hand under Bill Belichick, how to get the best out of a squad, though. He drove the turnaround he was tasked with when he took over in 2019 faster than expected, even if there were setbacks of course and not everything always went according to plan.

At the Fins, Flores also confirmed his reputation for making individual players better, with many taking important steps forward under him. He was also a convincing tactician.

Human weaknesses

A clear weak point besides the interpersonal problems hinted at by the Dolphins: complications in assembling the coaching staff.

He used up four offensive coordinators, four quarterback coaches, four offensive line coaches and two defensive coordinators in Miami – a lot of wood for three seasons, too much to get some consistency in the game, which is essential for his personal next step.

After all, his own skills may be essential, but so is working with others. But it is normal that there is still room for improvement after three years as a head coach in the NFL.

That’s why Flores has to learn: For a coach, it’s not always just the bare results that count. A certain diplomacy in dealing with players and officials is also necessary. Because if most of them are against you, at some point even sporting exclamation marks are no longer enough. Then it even comes to dismissals after a good season.