Of all the head coach firings on “Black Monday,” the Miami Dolphins‘ decision to jettison Brian Flores was met with the most confusion.
Flores had just produced back-to-back winning seasons in South Florida, and while he didn’t have a playoff berth to show for it, that’s no small feat for a franchise that has had only four winning campaigns in the last 15 years.
Reportedly, “relationships” were the major reason for Flores’ dismissal, particularly the ones he had with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and general manager Chris Grier.
In a Tuesday column, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald cited sources saying Flores had trouble relating to players.
“There were plenty of players who liked and admired Flores, and let’s be clear about that. But his arrogance and bristling personality rubbed some the wrong way. A close associate of multiple young Dolphins said the players complained to him that ‘he doesn’t understand dealing with men. He’s not approachable.’ When Flores saw one young player in recent months, he told him: ‘Don’t come to my office talking about playing time.’ The player had no such intentions. But multiple sources said he treated players different ways; a veteran such as Jason McCourty wouldn’t be treated with that same heavy hand. ‘He was stern with some but joked around with some guys,’ the source said. ‘It was hard to read him.’”
Perhaps this is true, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact Flores had won 19 games in two seasons despite uncertainty at the quarterback position and subpar offensive line play.
He did have a problem cycling through coordinators, but it’s clear that he was doing a lot of things right in order to squeeze that much out of a limited team.
Flores might not be out of a job long. He is expected to interview for the Chicago Bears opening, per reports, and could find himself a candidate elsewhere as well.
[ NESN ]
The post Report: Why Some Dolphins Players Disliked Brian Flores appeared first on The Spun.