Brian Flores is out after three seasons as Miami Dolphins coach. Grier to be retained
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Miami Dolphins fire head coach Brian Flores
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross fired head coach Brian Flores Monday following his third season with the organization. Read all of the news from the move that stunned many around the NFL.
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For the third time in less than seven years, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross dismissed a coach that he initially believed would lift his franchise to the playoff success that has eluded the organization for 21 years.
And once again, he’s going only halfway, opting to keep the executive who holds personnel control on the roster.
The Dolphins fired coach Brian Flores on Monday after three seasons in which he posted a winning record twice but failed to make the postseason.
But the Dolphins plan to retain general manager Chris Grier, league sources told the Miami Herald. Ross also suggested at a virtual news conference Monday that the plan was to move forward with Grier.
“After evaluating where we are as an organization and what we need going forward to improve, I determined that key dynamics of our football organization weren’t functioning at a level I want it to be and felt that this decision was in the best interest of the Miami Dolphins,” Ross said. “I think an organization can only function if it’s collaborative and works well together and I don’t think we were working well as an organization that it would take to win consistently at the NFL level.”
Though CBS reported Sunday that the Dolphins planned to pursue Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh if the job opened up, Ross said: “That’s the school I graduated from and I’m very involved in that. I’m not going to be the person to take Jim Harbaugh from Michigan. He’s a great coach.”
Ross said he has no particular person in mind to replace Flores.
Before hiring Flores in January 2019, Ross also met with NFL assistant coaches Dennis Allen (the Saints’ defensive coordinator and former Raiders head coach), Eric Bieniemy (the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator) and Kris Richard (now the Saints’ defensive backs coach).
Other possible candidates include former Eagles coach Doug Pederson, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, Cowboys defensive coordinator and former Falcons coach Dan Quinn (Denver asked permission to speak with him), former Colts and Lions coach Jim Caldwell and Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
As for Flores, he said in a statement: “I want to thank the Miami Dolphins organization for the opportunity to be the head coach of this team for the last three seasons. It was an honor to represent the franchise and lead this group of men. I am grateful most of all for the players, coaches and support staff who gave everything they had on a daily basis to help us win games. They deserve the credit for any success on the field, and it was the honor of a lifetime for me to go to work with them every day.
“I have always believed that leadership is really about service, and I did my best to serve the players, the staff and the organization every day. I believe in this team and will always value the relationships my family and I made here.”
Several Dolphins expressed disappointment about the coaching change.
“It’s unfortunate he’s gone,” Jerome Baker said.
Jesse Davis called him “an awesome coach” who “brought a lot of good qualities to this team: Competitiveness, toughness.”
Cornerback Nik Needham said he’s “sick as [expletive].”
Flores’ dismissal was a surprise in league circles and partly a byproduct of a deteriorating working relationship between him, Grier and others in the organization. Some of Flores’ assistant coach hires also contributed to his demise.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport cited “frustration and tension between Chris Grier and Brian Flores” as a reason for the dismissal. “This is always going to be one way or the other — Flores or general manager Chris Grier,” Rapoport said.
Flores led the Dolphin to a 5-11 record his first season, 10-6 his second and 9-8 in his third season, which ended with Sunday’s win against the New England Patriots.
Flores’ team would have made the playoffs with a win against Buffalo to close to 2020 season but instead lost 56-26.
The Dolphins would have made the playoffs with wins against Tennessee and New England to close this season, but lost to the Titans, 34-3, in Week 17, thus ending their playoff chances.
This marks the second time that Ross has dumped a coach after three seasons. He fired Adam Gase after 2018.
The coaching change means the Dolphins will have considerable turnover on their coaching staff. A new offensive staff is expected to be hired by the new coach.
If Flores gets another head coaching job — and he’s expected to get strong consideration in this cycle — he likely would take members of his defensive staff with him.
Asked Sunday night about posting a winning record for the second consecutive season but missing the playoffs, Flores said: “I am always going to feel like and wish I could have done more. It’s a special group. I’m happy, I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Asked if the season was a success, Flores said: “I think every experience you learn from them, good or bad. I’ve learned a lot this year about myself ... I’d like to think I’ve grown a little bit.”
Players, sometimes unsolicited, publicly praised Flores in recent weeks, particularly for his ability to help engineer this season’s turnaround from 1-7.
“We trust ‘Flo’ with everything,” linebacker Jerome Baker said two weeks ago. “Every guy trusts him. We know his system works. We believe what he is talking about. I think we just had to truly see it. I think once we believed in us and him, things started to turn around. It’s a credit to him and our coaching staff and it’s a credit to all of us.”
Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins made a point to praise Flores after Sunday’s season-ending win against New England.
“We followed his lead,” Wilkins said. “All year long, when it was at its worst and when things didn’t look so great and all the outside world had this to say about us, that to say about us; he just brought us all back in. Even when we were doing great, he still brought us back in – we still have to get better.
“We’ve still got to stick together no matter what. Even when guys started to have some success, he’s, like, no. He does a great job of leading us, setting the tone for us each week and creating the mindset for us, and we all love it as players and we can all get behind him.”
But some players weren’t fond of Flores’ heavy-handed style, according to three of them. Two said he could be difficult to work with, aloof and too concerned with issues such as what they told the media.
Meanwhile, Ross decided to keep Grier because he was pleased with the 2021 draft and believes he has significantly improved the Dolphins’ roster.
Grier had final say on all personnel decisions but often deferred to Flores and never gave him a player he didn’t want, according to a source.
Flores was the fourth NFL coach fired in the past two days, a list that include Chicago’s Matt Nagy, Denver’s Vic Fangio and Minnesota’s Mike Zimmer.
All of the Dolphins’ last three coaches finished a bit below .500. Joe Philbin went 24-28, Gase 23-25 and Flores 24-25. Ross fired all three.
Here’s what owner Stephen Ross said Monday about Deshaun Watson, Flores and other issues in a press conference.
Here’s what players and NFL analysts and former NFL officials said.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 9:42 AM.
