In 2022, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced a relatively surprising coaching hire by bringing on Brian Flores to serve as a senior defensive assistant. This occurred after Flores had been relieved of duties as head coach for the Miami Dolphins. Despite the turmoil during and after his tenure as Miami’s head coach, Flores still hopes to get another head coaching opportunity.
Flores recently joined Adam Schefter of ESPN’s podcast and the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator expressed that he hopes to one day get the opportunity he lost in Miami.
“There’s only 32 of these jobs, so I would certainly want to be a head coach in this league again,” Flores said to Schefter.
During his time in Miami, he was met with multiple controversies and adversities. Not only did his owner Stephen Ross commit tampering, but it has been insinuated multiple times Flores was told to “tank” the 2019 season. The development and rapport with his quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has also been a hot topic since his departure – with Tagovailoa going as far as to say Flores was an “terrible person.”
However, despite missing the postseason all three seasons during his tenure, he posted winning records in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022. The Dolphins had not had back-to-back winning seasons in nearly 20 years to this point. Regardless of the good, bad, and ugly, Flores learned from his first head coaching gig.
“I think it was a great experience for me and my family. There’s so much that I learned during my time there that’s made me a much, much better coach today,” Flores said on his time in Miami. “Obviously, there was some things that I would have done better … I really learned a lot from it.”
What may also make owners hesitate is the fact Flores filed a lawsuit against NFL owners for alleged discrimination in hiring practices. This alone could make it very difficult to get serious consideration. It would probably need to take a strong, existing relationship with ownership for an opportunity.
In a league where a Pat Shurmur or Adam Gase can get a quick second opportunity after a previous lack of success as head coaches, why couldn’t Flores? After all, he had Miami trending in the right direction.