The afternoon for Brian Flores and Adam Gase: Emotions decided by an unseen stranger
His boiling anger had slowed to a simmer by the time Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores got to a post-game podium for his press conference Sunday afternoon. He was still clearly inflamed but wasn’t out-of-his-mind furious like he’d been only moments before.
That’s when Flores, having already slammed his headset to the ground, was caught by television cameras chasing after officials as they exited the field following this 22-21 New York Jets victory over the Dolphins.
Flores could be seen yelling something at one of the pinstriped crew who was running off the field. Soon team security man and personal body guard Drew Brooks, who ran stride for stride with Flores, clutched on to the coach’s vest from behind to keep Flores, a linebacker at Boston College, from actually catching the official.
“I was upset we lost the game,” Flores said, explaining why he chased the officials.
New York Jets coach Adam Gase witnessed the scene from midfield where he was expecting the traditional midfield handshake with the opposing coach.
“Yeah, I saw,” Gase said afterward. “I waited for him, but that’s fine, I like Flo.”
When Brooks, who’s been with the Dolphins for years, finally escorted his current boss over to his former boss, the two men hugged and headed into their evenings down much different roads...
Gase, clearly happy he’d just beaten his former team, smiled broadly through that thick beard he’s now wearing, and greeted an old acquaintance he’s not seen for a while.
“It’s a good win,” he said. “A win is a win, and that always feels good.”
Gase tried in vain to hold back a smile but he absolutely refused to insinuate he felt any added satisfaction or revenge about beating his former team.
“I admit this was a little different because of all the people I still know and respect over there that I worked with for years,” he said. “So, yeah, it feels different that way.”
That’s as far as Gase went.
Flores, perhaps thinking about the pass interference called on Dolphins cornerback Nik Needham on a booth review with 47 seconds to play, changed into street clothes and got on the team bus still pondering a game he felt his team won -- save for an officiating call.
“I was upset that we lost the game,” he repeated. “I’m not going to answer any questions about the officiating.”
The Dolphins have lost 10 games this year. So losing isn’t new to Flores. But this was different. This was a game the Dolphins led 21-19 with less than a minute to play when that defensive pass interference penalty was called.
So it’s understandable if the Dolphins feel more as if the game was taken from them rather than they simply losing it. Flores, in fact, was pressed about this being a tougher game to accept than normal and wouldn’t bite.
“Any loss is tough to swallow,” he said. “So, this is no different than any other loss. They’re all tough to swallow. Our guys played hard and I’m proud of the way they work. It’s a tough one.”
And this is the life of an NFL head coach: After putting in a marathon week of work for a game day’s three-hour sprint to a result, these two men went home with feelings that were ultimately decided by an unseen stranger’s opinion of one play.
That unseen stranger this time was Al Riveron, the NFL’s Senior Vice President of Officiating. Although the play between Needham and Jets receiver Vyncent Smith was not flagged on the field, Riveron stopped the game from the NFL’s New York offices in Manhattan because the game was inside of 2 minutes remaining.
“That is correct,” said Riveron, a Miami native. “By rule we make the ultimate call here in New York.”
The truth of the matter is Riveron got the call right. Needham clearly had his hands on Smith and hindered the receiver before the ball arrived. So the no-call was reversed. And that gave the Jets the field position they needed to kick the winning 44 yard field goal as time expired.
Flores obviously didn’t care about those details. And he obviously didn’t care he was chasing game officials off the field who, in fact, called the play in the Dolphins’ favor.
Because it wasn’t those officials in New Jersey’s meadowlands that ruled pass interference. Those officials made a no-call on the field. It was Riveron on Park Avenue who ultimately ruled a penalty was committed.
Gase had no complaint about the call on the field being changed. But he also didn’t seem worried about the call when the play was originally ruled a routine incompletion.
“I was moving on to the next call because I don’t have time to sit there and complain.,” Gase said. “I don’t have that luxury [as the offensive play-caller].”
Gase said he didn’t even spend much time on the replay shown on the four MetLife Stadium screens.
“I was trying to think what to call next,” Gase said.
And, of course, all this is bunk.
Because Flores didn’t chase officials because the Dolphins lost. Coaches upset at a loss don’t chase officials, they take it out on people responsible -- like their players or themselves. And, of course, Gase understood that one play was a big difference between him winning on Sunday and him getting swept by Miami this year.
Look, these two coaches live a little better with favorable calls. And both die a little bit when calls go against them. Because both these teams are terrible -- the Dolphins because their roster is purposefully poor and the Jets, in some ways, because their roster is decimated with injuries.
So both Gase and Flores had something in common when they woke up Sunday. They were both desperate to have something, anything, go right.
“No matter who we were playing, a win helps,” Gase admitted.
But a win, even against his old team, is fleeting. Because Gase was already thinking ahead after this one.
“We got a game on Thursday to worry about now,” he said.
Who?
“Baltimore,” he answered.
The life of an NFL coach.
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 6:58 PM.
