‘Black Monday’ has seen its first surprising move of the day. The Dolphins have fired Head Coach Brian Flores, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). 
Flores, 40, took over as the Fins’ HC in 2019, compiling an overall record of 24-25. A 10-6 finish last year was the cause of a great deal of optimism for the future for the team, as they just missed out on the playoffs and were set to hand over the quarterbacking reigns to 2020 first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa.
2021 was a completely different story, however. After winning in Week 1, the team suffered seven straight losses and was seen as arguably the biggest disappointment in the league, given all the optimism heading into the season. In the midst of that skid, it was reported that Flores was on the hot seat. The mounting losses, along with a perceived lack of flexibility made some believe Flores wasn’t the most approachable of coaches.
Not long after, though, the team turned things around and won seven straight to get to 8-8 on the campaign. While they ultimately fell short of the playoffs with a 9-8 record, the fact that a potential tailspin turned into another winning season had many feeling Flores would be safe. Instead, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reports that Owner Stephen Ross met with Flores on Monday before making the decision to fire him. He adds that the latter “didn’t always agree on key team decisions” with General Manager Chris Greer, but also that “there’s a widespread feeling of shock within the team”.
The Team Tweeted out a statement in which Ross said, “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. I want to thank Brian for his hard work and wish him nothing but the best in the future”. Schefter adds that Greer is safe for the time being.
Miami joins Las Vegas, Jacksonville, Denver, Minnesota and Chicago as teams in need of a new head coach for 2022.
Wow little shocking. He had them playing really well toward end of the season. They should hire someone like Brain Daboll or Eric Bienemy to help further develop Tua.
In the draft they should add Drake London to pair with Tua and add a workhorse back like Isian Spiller or Breece Hall.
In free agency they should invest in fixing the holes in the OL.
I like culley but would love Flores as the HC of the Texans
Interesting, Joey. This is a theme in all NFL coaching conversations: the guy fired by one team is viewed as a savior by another. Why is that? How can a coach be fired for not winning, or winning enough, and then be hired to help his new team win? That tells us that something else is at work other than winning percentages
I see coaches just like players.
Some guys excel in one system but flounder in another.
A guy could be a nobody and then have a breakout career going to a new team or a guy can be a pro bowl hof talent and derail completely in on a new team.
Joey: what’s a “system” in pro football? And wouldn’t the hiring team expect the recently fired coach to bring with him his system, the system that cost him his job in the first place? And if he’s not going to bring his system with him, then somebody else on the hiring team will be imposing a new system in the recently fired, newly hired head coach.
Bull bellichek was a bust in Cleveland and look at him now
People always say that because he was fired by CLE, but he got them to the playoffs in his 2nd year there with Kosar at QB too!
“A bust” ? better check your history.
Pre bellichek the browns were relatively consistent winners. Easy to see how he made the playoffs in year two. However, the team did not sustain the success…36-44 record in 5 years as coach. How is my history?
Belichick had a losing record 4 of 5 seasons with Browns..
System is like style of offense style of defense for player
For coaches a system is like the front office. How well can a gm and scouts find talent. How well can a coaching staff maximize the talent. Keep in mind a 6th round pick undrafted guy can have better careers than 1st 2nd round talent. Jon Schneider and Pete Carroll come to mind.
Well, the interesting thing could be how stupid a decision it was to fire this guy. What did the Miami Dolphins think was going to happen for them over the last three years?
Flores did a good job and things were turning in the right direction. Last year was more of a fluke than this year was a drop off. Flores was going to have them in the playoffs next year. Who knows what a new coach is going to do? The only certain thing is that they will make adjustments that will likely cause the timeline to be delayed. The Dolphins got worse today and some other team is going to benefit by hiring Flores to be their coach.
Not to mention having to deal with the ups and downs of a season filled with COVID-19 issues. As a Bills fan, I love this decision as it will create more controversy and confusion, but as a football fan, it leaves me scratching my head.
Agreed. Seems like a heavy-handed owner didn’t like being told “no”. Plenty of unoriginal “yes” men in the NFL. The Dolphins won’t have trouble finding one, but they won’t be better for it. Deshaun Watson should be smiling. This move probably removed the obstacle in the rumored trade.
Belichick had a losing record 5 of his first 6 seasons.. 4 of 5 losing seasons with Browns, then hired by PATS, and had a losing record his first year there, the rest is history.. So ya never know..
Seems like a strange move
Strange move, but Ross has been enamored with Deshaun Watson, while Flores wasn’t. This is Ross showing he’s the boss, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him trade for Watson now.
Flores was one of the biggest reasons as to why Watson wanted to go to Miami. Maybe it wasn’t mutual, but I’d have a hard time believing Flores didn’t really want Watson while Watson wanted to go there. Maybe Houston goes after Flores with the New England ties and miraculously keeps DW4 around haha
It’s actually not.
Flores burned a ton of bridges and couldn’t get along with anyone in the building. To divisive to be a head coach.
I hope he learns from this because he could be great.
Oh so you know everyone in the building?
He won’t be unemployed for long. Tua’s slow development likely did him in.
Slow development? Tua can’t stay healthy and yet Flores still finished the season 8-1. The stupidity of the franchise did him in. They will come to regret this firing. Beyond terrible move.
That and poor use of first round draft picks (excluding Waddle).
What’s that have to do w/ Flores?
The GM should have been on the chopping block.
How about Jaelan Phillips?
Yeah Phillips is a stud and waddle just set the rookie receptions record. It is too early to judge Austin Jackson. They have not been terrible in the draft. There are many other teams in the NFL that have faired much worse.
Such a joke. Finished the season 8-1, swept the patriots for the first time in forever, back to back winning seasons for the first time in 20 years. Yup, let’s fire this guy. Inept ownership
Guaranteed they have a deal for Harbaugh. Ross is a Michigan alumni who had a crush on him before they hired Flores. With rumors that raiders are interested, I bet he gets like 10 million per season.
No need to text mine. You have it covered.
How they finished the season had nothing to do with his firing. Apparently there was a big rift between Flores on one side and Greer and Tua on the other. Reportedly the relationship was irreparable so they parted ways.
Nope. Flores’ interpersonal skills are awful. That’s the reason.
I’ll go ahead and believe what has been reported by professionals. Thanks though!
Seemed like a pretty solid coach. Maybe I’m wrong tho
Yea this guy seems like a good coach.
The GM is set in Watson not too long after the team drafted Tua.
They have some nice young pieces, Flores was developing a culture, but the roster still has holes, namely they have 0 ground threat. That’s not his fault.
Also, his record last year set him up for this. They peaked maybe a year earlier than expected and everyone’s expectations went higher when they weren’t ready.
Flores’ interpersonal skills are awful. That’s the reason why he was fired.
Maybe he learned his interpersonal skills from Belinchek? Bobby Knight wasn’t exactly a sweetheart
Crazy. It had been almost two decades since the Dolphins had back to back winning seasons. And he’s not the one who’s used all that draft capital building the worst offensive line in football.
Out of all of the firings, this is the most surprising.
Duh. All the others were expected.
There is clearly more to this firing than his team’s performance.
As someone else said in here probably a difference of opinions. Flores rather have Tua and picks. Ross is hellbent on Watson. Wouldnt be surprised if that led to a break up.
Dumb move. He was 9-8 with a replacement level QB. That’s impressive.
If you believe media reports, this had to happen. Flores believes in Tua. Dolphins ownership would rather trade away an insane amount of draft resources for Watson. That’ll be the next move here. There should be severe backlash when it happens.
Flores’ interpersonal skills are awful. That’s the reason why he was fired.
Ah yes, you’re right. Dolphins ownership and management have been talking about Deshaun Watson for two years now. Flores has always avoided the topic.
This is a bad decision. Rebuilding the Dolphins was never going to be easy and the rebuild looked to be on track. The first round draft picks (and players) the Dolphins give up for Watson will deep six the franchise for many years.
He seemed to have the Dolphins on the right path.
For their sake, I hope they have a better candidate in mind.
Any team that has an owner enamored with trading for Deshaun Watson cannot be trusted to make competent football decisions.
Seen this pattern before…
Bad team is bad for a while, finally finds a good coach, decides good isn’t good enough and then they just go back to being bad again.
Most likely scenario here.
Reminds me of when Detroit inexplicably fired Jim Caldwell.
Good example.
LACES OUT!
Also wild that Flores is only 40. He’s gotta be one of the top candidates on the coaching market now, right?
You betcha. I’d hire this guy in a second.
Another brilliant move by the team that gave up on Tannehill. They might regret this bonehead play even more.
I don’t know any dolphins fans that are upset about moving on from tannehill. He is not that good. He has a good record in tennessee because of their elite rb and offensive line. He had two stud receivers and regressed as a passer this year without Henry and the play action. Not to mention the salary he would have commanded in Miami
I don’t think this is fair. Tannehill has been outstanding for Tennessee. If Flores had a QB situation that steady, he’d still have a job–and a playoff berth.
Agree to disagree. I would never use “outstanding” to describe tannehill. He had 1 good season, last year. He’s a solid game manager. Take away the run game and he is nothing spectacular. His numbers without Henry are very similar to his performance in Miami. His 3:2 td:int ratio this season is not good. He is slightly above average, which is still starter caliber. I would make the move to dump tannehill over paying him 25+ million a season every time if I were Miami. They did not need a game manager, they needed playmakers
I think when you take into account a new OC and drastic number of injuries around him this year, he’s been great. Those games without AJ or Julio when they no longer have Humphries or Jonnu, plus O-line injuries, he was dealing with a lot.
I agree, he has had to deal with injuries. That’s my point, he is not good enough to carry a team. He needs an elite rb and line in front so he can do what he is best at, play action. All my point is, it was not a mistake for Miami to get rid of him. He was going to cost too much in free agency and was not good enough to win games in Miami by himself. The dolphins embraced a rebuild, and rightfully so
I liked what Flores was doing in Miami but I am not a fan of Tua and I do not feel he is the answer. The fact that Tua was the only option provided to Flores is not on him. Strange move my Miami.
One of the other clubs who have openings should jump on hiring him immediately. Chicago/Minnesota would be a great fit for him.
I think Chicago has to prioritize bringing in someone who can develop and build an offense around Fields. Flores is a great candidate for someone, but a dicey QB situation was his biggest problem. If he has a great OC for Fields, then you have to worry about that guy getting hired away before too long.
wow, shocking, Good coach.
Welcome Jim Harbaugh to Miami. You heard it here first.
In today’s NFL world you make the play-offs in a time frame or you get fired. The rumor is that Flo was the leading voice in personnel moves…
Offensive Line is no better and one of the worst in the league.
TUA over Herbert….. Enough said.
As a Dolphin’s fan I liked Flo but this is a business and when you don’t perform up to expectations like losing to Jacksonville, then you are out.
Then why does the GM still have a job? He gave Flores absolutely no running game and an OLine of cardboard cutouts. Even with that Tua’s stats were showing improvement. I imagine if they got a real RB and some OLine help this same team could win 11-12 games and make the playoffs.
You aren’t even the first one to say this in this thread.
Looks to me that they are going to hire a head coach that DeShaun Watson will approve of.
Watson said he wanted to play for Brian Flores. There you have it lol.
David Culley is NOT going to be fired.
This comment didn’t age well.
A swing and a miss.
Flores isn’t going from a small fire in Miami to a complete dumpster fire in Houston.
Bad decision. He’s a solid coach.
Jags have a young QB he not a bad coach . Would be a great move for them
easily the most questionable firing of the day.
Seahawks: fire Carrol and hire Flores.
So I’ve had season tickets for 20 years with my family and they listen to news and rumors like crazy. So here is some of the stuff I heard.
It started with Flores demanding the team draft Justin Herbert. Then he apparently wanted Chase.
During the Watson drama he wanted no part of it and tried to stick with Tua. Aside from Tua missing some games this is during the 7 game losing streak. Once the Watson rumors died off they win 7 in a row.
There has been a big right with Ross over throwback uniforms. Ross loves the new colors and awful logo while Flores likes playing in the throwbacks (not all the time though) as he felt they had a certain hype around them. And they did as they were undefeated in the throwbacks until recently.
Then the main thing I heard during the 7 game losing streak is apparently Flores is kind of a jerk. Unapproachable and dead set in his ways. Trying too hard to be Belicheck. Some of the rumors suggested the REAL coach of the team was Fitzpatrick during the 10-6 season. It seemed plausible as once he was gone we went 1-7.
Then the other thing I really wonder is what this does for the future of bringing players to Miami. Watson wanted to come here even before his allegations started. Then you hear of talented players often enough talking about how they wanted to go play for Flores.
So now we have no coach, and Ross will hire some one who we all will hate. We have a GM that drafted a QB and didn’t try to build a team to his strengths. A GM who never got the team a running game. A GM who thinks cardboard cutouts are good enough to make an OLine. And an owner who is just the worst. He does not care about winning.. he cares about it celebrity status. He wants all that Miami attention and getting celebrities to games. He could care less about making the playoffs. This is the same guy who let Jeff Ireland run the team for years. Ross has to go. All he cares about is giving his hundreds of millions a year to Michigan. And he says for sure he won’t take Harbaugh from them… And honestly I kind of believe it because he clearly cares more about Michigan winning than the Dolphins.
If those things are as you say, Flores is largely looking pretty smart. I’d probably be prickly too if my bosses were doing everything in their power to make my job harder.
I think he’ll land somewhere, though. Brush up the people skills a bit, and by those accounts he could be a good coach. He got Miami righted this year.
I’ve heard Jim Caldwell might possibly be headed to Miami with Vic Fangio as his DC
That’s a mistake. Caldwell is a good coach but he’s yesterday’s news and well past his prime.
deserved to be fired last year just for how dumb he was in handling tua’s rookie year.
Tua is an injury prone QB & he’ll most likely miss a lot more games because he just can’t stay on the field & the 2020 Season Tua had to be bailed out by Fitz in a number of games. Chris Grier screwed the pooch when he passed on the best QB in the 2020 Draft to draft the injury prone Tua
This to me makes no sense but at rb e same time I’m not shocked due to the fact it’s the Dolphins and they wouldn’t know a good coach when they saw it. As far as Flores is goes, this is a good thing for him, he gets away from the Tua mess. It’s clear he’s not a a believer in Tua but the front office is so maybe he can go coach somewhere they have a good QB wether they have him on their roster already or get one this offseason. There’s going to be some good ones available this offseason like Watson (if he can clear his name), Wilson and possibly Rodgers (doubt he leaves though). Also there’s a team like the Raiders who have Carr or the Vikings who have a good roster and Cousins might not be great but you can win with him; just need to strengthen their D and run the ball more with Cook, kind of use the SF system with Jimmy at QB
Nobody should be surprised that Brian Flores was shown the door because in 3 seasons the team hasn’t shown any real improvement plus he has a sub .500 record. Chris Grier is the next one who should be shown the door because he not only screwed the pooch in 2020 by passing on the best QB in the Draft for an injury prone QB plus Grier blew up the team by trading away all the stars the Dolphins had.
No real improvement? You’re absolutely ignoring the roster Flores took over and where he brought them.
You couldn’t be more wrong than if you actually tried to be wrong & between the 2020 season & the 2021 season the team took big steps backwards & Flores has a sub .500 record.
There has been no real improvement in the Dolphins in the past 3 yrs & the next one who should be shown the door is Chris Grier who blew up the roster by trading away all the stars on the roster & then screwed the pooch by passing on the best QB in the 2020 draft for an injury prone QB
What? Agreed about Grier, but 5-11 was wildly overachieving with that roster Flores’ first year, and then they improved to 10-6 the next year.
What is coming out about Flores makes his termination even realistic especially him wanting full control over the team like his mentor in New England even though he never won anything to deserve to have complete control of the team. The Dolphins had a good year in 2020 & then took a step backwards in 2021. OH YEAH if he had a blowup with Tagovailoa then & he was treating certain players one way & other players in other ways like what is being reported then he more than deserved to be terminated because he didn’t have the players.
Miami just proved what a terrible organization they are.
I liked what Flores was doing with the dolphins but relationships are key and if they haven’t gotten better in three yrs they probably won’t, sure he might have ended having playoff appearances but you don’t want the team culture to get bad and if it hc and qb don’t have a good relationship then it’s not good .
look at Brady him and bill had a good relationship for awhile till it wasn’t n Brady then left . sure Flores could have still won with bad relationships but if u don’t think they will improve then it’s better to make a change sooner the later