Can Brian Flores Go ‘Back to the Future’?
Phins Fans look to Flores to make the present more like the past
With the passing of the legendary Don Shula, the Miami Dolphins lost its iconic patriarch. Does a franchise need an iconic patriarch? Not if they are having success or at least recent success. Unfortunately, the ‘charm’ of the Dolphins is all last century. Shula being around eased the suffering of the present for many Phins fans. Now though, the distance from the ‘golden years’ is even farther away and the hope for Brian Flores to ‘make good’ even more desperate.
Can Brian Flores go ‘back to the future’ and reignite the greatness of yesterday for today’s Phins fans?
Miami has plenty of all-time great players still with us, but none are coaches or are quality talent evaluators who can man the rudder or offer keen wisdom on the direction of the franchise. Dan Marino is part of the current regime and that’s good news! Still, he’s the cherry on top and not the cake.
So again, all of the Miami Dolphins hopes rest with Brian Flores.
What about Chris Grier?
Grier is obviously critical, but by his own account, he builds through consensus. You can bet with the Free Bookie Software sites that this trait is key to turning this franchise around, but Grier’s success depends on bright people creating a quality consensus. On the other hand, Brian Flores is the ‘well’ from which his program flows. And given what we saw last season with his ability to ‘coach up’ a group of castoffs, Flores flashed great potential.
That sums up all the hope for Phins fans. Because if Flores is another pipedream, close to another decade will be wasted.
Ouch!
Flores doesn’t need to be the next Shula… nor can he be
Now, this isn’t about Flores being the ‘next Shula’ because there will only ever be one Don Shula. But, getting near ‘Shula’s ballpark’ is a must to create any ‘meaningful success’. By ‘meaningful success’ I mean at least a single Superbowl championship. And when you look at the great coaches of NFL history, even a single Championship wasn’t an easy goal to reach.
Super Bowl Wins by some Top NFL coaches
- Don Shula (2)
- Bill Parcells (2)
- Hank Stram (1)
- Pete Carroll (1)
- Mike Tomlin (1)
- Tom Landry (2)
- Sean Payton (1)
- Joe Gibbs (2)
- Mike Shanahan (2)
- Bill Cower (1)
- Andy Reid (1)
- Mike Holmgren (1)
This means that if Brian Flores can win a single Super Bowl he’ll liberate a long-beleaguered franchise but also elevate himself into 2nd place in Miami Dolphins coaching lore. By de facto due to the loss of Shula, he will then be the Phins patriarch. Now, being an iconic patriarch will take way more than a single Super Bowl. Honestly, that’s not even on my hope list. I can see Flores ending up like a Bill Cowher with a long list of quality teams and one big run among them, though.
I’d take that all day and three times on Sunday!
Still, we are a long way from that.
When you listen to Flores talk about getting the best out of his players who have a team-first mentality to generate wins, it’s almost right out of the mouth of Don Shula!
Now, I might have snookered some of you with this line from Don Shula’s Hall of Fame induction speech. But, it sure does sound like a Flores quote!
While no two quality football coaches are exactly the same, they all have some core aspects in common. And one of the biggies is putting players in a position to focus on their strengths and not their weaknesses.
A pretty simple concept to understand, for sure. But maybe not so simple in practice because not since Don Shula has someone coached the Miami Dolphins like that… that is until Brian Flores showed up! It’s still a long way till we can call it done, but there is legitimate hope that the future will have a glimmer of the past under Flores. Go Phins!!!
I will not sugar coat the Dolphins anymore!
Right now all are speculation on future wins But Shula’s Two losing season and 31 winning seasons no one has top that yet! Facts: The current last two decades Dolphins cannot keep a coach Five years?
The life expectancy for New Coaches and Managers about 5 years:
1st year Tank
2nd year 7 wins back to Dolphins Standard 8 wins
3rd year ??? (Safety net if injury persists? Whats the plan) Rosen or by now age 39 or 40 year old Fitzpatrick
4th year ??? What’s the plan
5th year ??? What’s the plan
Here are the new odds to win the AFC East title following the 2020 schedule release, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
New England Patriots: +125
Buffalo Bills: +145
Miami Dolphins: +700
New York Jets: +700
2020 Season
The Dolphins Game 1 is at Gillette Stadium?
For the Dolphins to achieved there Goal they will need two great starting QB!
The Patriots remain the favorites to win the AFC East, but plenty of challenges lie ahead. They have one of the toughest regular season schedules and very little experience at quarterback. A Week 16 matchup between the Patriots and Bills on “Monday Night Football” at Gillette Stadium could play a pivotal role in deciding the division title.
Everything is based on player growth… that’s an unknown. Who will grow? We don’t have a clue. If a bunch grow and step up, we could see a big surprise. If Miami finds they most aren’t growing or growing fast enough, it will be in that 6-8 range. Who knows really. I think we have the best QB in the division… will he stay consistent? Or will he have a down year? So many questions, Steve.
First of all, God rest Don Shula’s soul! May he rest in peace beside Dorothy.
Second, Coach Shula was a wonderful coach but a lousy general manager. This is the guy that picked John Bosa and Jackie Ship. By the end of his career he was taking over the hill free agents trying to win now. Chris Grier has nothing to worry about when it comes to picking talent. If Mr. Ross stays out of the way, Chris could attain Bobby Beathard staus.
Third, Brian Flores has just experienced a coaching change in the middle of a major personnel overhaul. I don’t expect him to completely succeed by mid season. We should win 7 games this year. If Tua gets well and the running game jells we could keep another 3 games close. If the defense stops the run, we win those 3 games. 10 wins could put us in the playoffs.
In my opinion, Flores coaching this green team to 10 wins would be the equivalent of a Shula-esque performance.
I wouldn’t say lousy. He drafted a ton of good and great players. He had a weak stretch from 84-89 and his missed on too many RBs especially in the 1st RD in the 80s. Andre Franklin was his best– a FB. And the 95 draft was a rough one at a critical time. But in that time he drafted Cox, Marino, Clayton, Duper, Stephenson, Offerdal, Vincent, Sims, Webb, Coleman, Bowens, McDuffie and Kirby… who was his best RB in a long time. He was never the same after the knee injury. So, if you look at the Dolphins drafting from 99-2013 you have Pouncy, Long, Jones and Tannehill as the shinning picks… Shula did way better. But, you are correct that he didn’t have good enough slugging % and missed a bit too much. The injuries to Kirby and Stephenson were big. Both had their careers cut too short. Flores and Allen make a big difference in my book for Grier along with not being strapped with Tannenbaum and a terrible system.
I’d agree and say 7-10 wins this year. The AFCE will be tough and it all depends on players progressing. I hope Tua doesn’t play. Run game finding some life will be paramount… that will determine a ton!
At least a single Superbowl championship (Shula said it the key to a head coach success is constantly winning and soon). The NFL has no time for failure after the 5th year.
Coaching Hires In The NFL Since 2000
Tm—–#— HC—Coaches
OAK—-9—-Jon Gruden; Bill Callahan; Norv Turner; Art Shell; Lane Kiffin; Tom Cable; Hue Jackson; Dennis Allen; Jack Del Rio: Jon Gruden
CLE—-9—-Chris Palmer; Butch Davis; Romeo Crennel; Eric Mangini; Pat Shurmur; Rob Chudzinski; Mike Pettine; Hue Jackson:Kevin Stefanski
SFO—-8—-Steve Mariucci; Dennis Erickson; Mike Nolan; Mike Singletary; Jim Harbaugh; Jim Tomsula; Chip Kelly: Kyle Shanahan,
WAS—-8—-Norv Turner; Marty Schottenheimer; Steve Spurrier; Joe Gibbs; Jim Zorn; Mike Shanahan; Jay Gruden:Ron Rivera
BUF—-9—-Wade Phillips; Gregg Williams; Mike Mularkey; Dick Jauron; Chan Gailey; Doug Marrone; Rex Ryan: Josh Norman
DET—-7—-Bobby Ross; Marty Mornhinweg; Steve Mariucci; Rod Marinelli; Jim Schwartz; Jim Caldwell:Matt Patricia
KAN—-6—-Gunther Cunningham; Dick Vermeil; Herman Edwards; Todd Haley; Romeo Crennel; Andy Reid
TAM—-7—-Tony Dungy; Jon Gruden; Raheem Morris; Greg Schiano; Lovie Smith; Dirk Koetter Bruce Arians.
MIA—-7—–Dave Wannstedt; Nick Saban; Cam Cameron; Tony Sparano; Joe Philbin; Adam Gase: Brian Flores
GNB—-3—–Mike Sherman; Mike McCarthy–Matt LaFleur
PIT—-2—-Bill Cowher; Mike Tomlin
BAL—-2—-Brian Billick; John Harbaugh
NWE—-1—-Bill Belichick
If Flores is vying and making playoffs and the team is building that’s the key. SB win is hard, man. Again, Cowher is an example. He was robbed by Odonell being on the take for one SB though. Playoffs by Year 3 is a big indicator…