Brian Flores Fired As Head Coach Of Miami Dolphins
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Brian Flores has been fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
The Miami Dolphins announced Monday morning Flores has been relieved of his duties. Flores completed his third season as head coach with a 24-25 record.
"I made a decision today to part ways with Brian Flores," said Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross in a press release. "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 to be and felt that this decision was in the best interest of the Miami Dolphins. I believe we have a talented young roster in place and have the opportunity to be much better in 2022. I want to thank Brian for his hard work and wish him nothing but the best in his future."
During a Monday morning news conference, the primary issues Ross cited for the decision to fire Flores seemed to have little to do with the on-field product and more with communication within the team's braintrust — though there were no specific examples offered of how the team determined Flores wasn't the right fit in those regards.
"I've been looking at this over three years now and watching the organization grow," Ross said. "I think an organization can only function if it's collaborative and it works well together, and I don't think we were really working well as an organization ... to win consistently at the NFL level."
Ross also spoke highly of the work done to the roster over the last three years.
"If you look at our roster, we have a very fine, I think excellent, roster of young players," Ross said. "This was all done in the last three years. We had an old, aging roster before it that was leading us nowhere but to mediocrity. And I think if you look at our roster today, you see our salary cap, the players we have, I think we're well-suited for the future."
So who will replace Flores? That remains to be seen.
Ross is a Michigan graduate and the largest donor in that university's history, and the Dolphins could look at Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh as one of the possible candidates to take over.
But Ross, professing his love for Harbaugh, tried to quell that possibility, saying he won't be the person who takes the coach away from Michigan.
"I have no coach in mind at this point," Ross said. "We're going to do a thorough review and interview process."
In a statement released to ESPN, Flores wrote: "I want to thank the Miami Dolphins organization for the opportunity to be the head coach for this team for the last three seasons. It was an honor to represent the franchise and lead this group of men. I am grateful most of all for the players, coaches, and support staff who gave everything they had on a daily basis to help us win games. They deserve the credit for any success on the field, and it was the honor of a lifetime for me to go to work with them every day. I have always believed that leadership is really about service, and I did my best to serve the players, the staff and the organization every day. I believe in this team and will always value the relationships my family and I made here."
And what about quarterback Tua Tagovailoa?
"It'll be up to the head coach in terms of what he does with the quarterback," Ross said. "As I've said before, I have a lot of confidence in Tua."
Flores was named the 13th head coach in team history on Feb. 4, 2019. He began his coaching career as a special teams assistant for New England from 2008-2009. In 2010, Flores served as an offensive assistant and worked with special teams. He spent his final eight seasons, (2011-18) in New England coaching defense.