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The Firing of Brian Flores: An Analysis on the Dolphins’ Shocking Decision
Photo Credit: The Phinsider
Waking up in the morning of January, 10, 2022, the so called “Black” Monday in the NFL where
head coaches, general managers, and coordinators of the NFL are given the pink slip and left to
wander out into the purgatory of an NFL hiring cycle, I felt pretty comfortable In Brian Flores’
job security at least for one more year. After all, this is the same head coach that led the Miami
Dolphins to back-to-back winning season, even after a disastrous start to the 2022 season. In fact,
it was the first time the Dolphins have knotted consecutive winning seasons since the 2002 and
2003 seasons. And although the Dolphins have failed to reach the playoffs for the 5th consecutive
year, this was a gritty young squad poised to make a leap into playoff contention soon enough
(although this very much feels like an eerily similar narrative to years past). This is all made it
even more shocking when Adam Schefter first broke the news that the Miami Dolphins were
letting go of Brian Flores.
The case for keeping Brian Flores is one rooted in the coaches’ ability to elevate the talent of a
roster as evident by his first season as head coach when the Dolphins would go on to win 5
games with a roster many believe was firmly the worst in the NFL. Flores also seemed to have
crafted a defense that was intense, hard-hitting, and always seemed to be one of the better ones in
the NFL. It’s also easy to like the way Brian Flores carried himself. His stoic nature rivaled that
of his former team’s head coach, Bill Belichick, and his commanding presence on the field was
easy to note. Flores can also pride himself as being the only coach to lead a team in NFL history
to have gone on a 7-game losing streak and proceed to win 7 straight as well, having just done
that with 2021 Dolphins Squad that would finish with a 9-8 record.
So why then, would owner Stephen Ross decide to move on from such a seemingly young and
promising head coach? The most obvious answer one can critique regarding Brian Flores’s
tenure as head coach is the lack of postseason success—or even getting that far. The Dolphins
never made the playoffs during his tenure although they posted a winning record twice in those 3
years. To take a deeper dive, in 2020 the Dolphins would have had to beat the Buffalo Bills in
their final game to advance to the NFL playoffs. The Dolphins would go on to lose that game 56-
26 and narrowly miss the playoffs. In 2021, after notching 7 straight victories the Dolphins were
poised to make a playoff push and all they had to do was win their final 2 games—a road game
against the Tennessee Titans and a homestand against the New England Patriots. The Dolphins
went on the road to face the Titans and were thoroughly beaten 34-3. The Dolphins would
promptly be eliminated from playoff contention after the loss and would go on to beat the
Patriots in their final game in what was otherwise a meaningless victory. In 2 straight seasons,
the Dolphins have been faced with a crucial game that had enormous playoff ramifications and
have been beaten by a total score of 90-29. To further add context, the Dolphins had a strength of
schedule rating of -0.8 according to Pro Football Reference, which indicates a weaker strength of
schedule than average. Despite this, the Dolphins would only go on to win 9 games out of a total
of 17. Even if one were to look at the statistical breakdown of the defense, it would be interesting
to see that the Dolphins during Flores’s tenure have ranked 32nd , 6th , and 16th based on points
allowed. On yards allowed, the rankings would be 30th , 20th , and 15th. The Dolphins defense,
which is Brian Flores’s specialty, hasn’t been statistically top 5 in any season under his tenure.
Considering that Coach Brian Flores is lauded as being a defensive guru, this is simply not good
enough. Then there are the reports of Brian Flores being difficult to get along with, as reported
per Adam Beasley. This could be the reason for Flores’s constant staff turnover during his
tenure, as over his 3 years as head coach there were a total of 4 different offensive coordinators.
Several questions remain, such as what the Dolphins plan to do at Quarterback. According to
reports made by Ian Rappaport, it seems that the Dolphins are sticking with Tua for the
foreseeable future and are currently looking to build around him. Whatever the case may be, the
Miami Dolphins have certainly made a splashy decision to start their NFL offseason and this
crucial hiring cycle will certainly have enormous implications for the future of the franchise.
Written by- Alan Martin
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