Bears to interview Brian Flores

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Yessssssssss.
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Flores might be one of those guys who is good enough to be hired before the GM and have input into the hiring of the GM.
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The Marshall Plan
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He gets soup.

Didn’t this guy allegedly get fired for yelling at the GM about doing a shitty job on all the draft pick they got?

Young guy with balls.
Not afraid to yell at authority.
(We’ve seen this movie before.)
Then add in the Dolphins being on the upswing when he got fired.

Yeah. This’ll work!
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He's a good coach obviously, but sounds like the OC/OL concerns are real. He has to answer for that.

Looks like 4 OCs in 3 years?!? And I saw someone say several OL coach changes too. Accountability is cool and all but that does sound chaotic and sounds like that all really played a role in his FO relationship breaking down.
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The Cooler King wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:35 am He's a good coach obviously, but sounds like the OC/OL concerns are real. He has to answer for that.

Looks like 4 OCs in 3 years?!? And I saw someone say several OL coach changes too. Accountability is cool and all but that does sound chaotic and sounds like that all really played a role in his FO relationship breaking down.
Did he hire the OC or did the GM?
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The Cooler King
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IE wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:43 am
The Cooler King wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:35 am He's a good coach obviously, but sounds like the OC/OL concerns are real. He has to answer for that.

Looks like 4 OCs in 3 years?!? And I saw someone say several OL coach changes too. Accountability is cool and all but that does sound chaotic and sounds like that all really played a role in his FO relationship breaking down.
Did he hire the OC or did the GM?
Not sure exact circumstances, but I'm seeing a lot of chatter that it's a concern area.
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The Cooler King wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:35 am He's a good coach obviously, but sounds like the OC/OL concerns are real. He has to answer for that.

Looks like 4 OCs in 3 years?!? And I saw someone say several OL coach changes too. Accountability is cool and all but that does sound chaotic and sounds like that all really played a role in his FO relationship breaking down.
He and GM Chris Grier did. not. like. each. other. Flores was of the opinion that Grier was wasting high draft picks on guys that weren't ready to contribute right away. He wanted to sit them until they were ready but Grier wanted them on the field (primarily Tua).

The turnover at OC/OL was more Grier than Flores. He wanted to get people who could make guys like Tua, Robert Hunt, Austin Jackson, and others productive.

Then there's the Watson thing. Watson wanted to play for Flores. Ross and Grier don't want any part of Watson. They want Tua to work out.

So... the deck was kind of stacked against Flores.
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https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt- ... 41207.html

Flores already was essentially running the Dolphins building, according to a source in direct contact with Dolphins management. But he wanted even more control, the source said. He wanted the authority formalized, to eliminate the contract annoyance of general manager Chris Grier having final say on the draft and free agency. He wanted more power in everything, final say on virtually everything. He wanted more people to report to him.

What’s strange about this is that Grier — who likes to avoid conflict — basically gave Flores everything he wanted. There wasn’t a single player on the roster that Flores didn’t sign off on. And yet Grier’s deference still wasn’t enough to appease Flores or sooth tensions between the two.

As one Dolphins person said, people need to stop blaming Grier entirely for the personnel moves that didn’t work out the past three years and blame them both equally. And both deserve credit for the ones that worked out.

There were plenty of players who liked and admired Flores, and let’s be clear about that. But his arrogance and bristling personality rubbed some the wrong way.

A close associate of multiple young Dolphins said the players complained to him that “he doesn’t understand dealing with men. He’s not approachable.”

When Flores saw one young player in recent months, he told him: “Don’t come to my office talking about playing time.” The player had no such intentions.

But multiple sources said he treated players different ways; a veteran such as Jason McCourty wouldn’t be treated with that same heavy hand. “He was stern with some but joked around with some guys,” the source said. “It was hard to read him.”
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UOK wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:14 pm https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt- ... 41207.html

Flores already was essentially running the Dolphins building, according to a source in direct contact with Dolphins management. But he wanted even more control, the source said. He wanted the authority formalized, to eliminate the contract annoyance of general manager Chris Grier having final say on the draft and free agency. He wanted more power in everything, final say on virtually everything. He wanted more people to report to him.

What’s strange about this is that Grier — who likes to avoid conflict — basically gave Flores everything he wanted. There wasn’t a single player on the roster that Flores didn’t sign off on. And yet Grier’s deference still wasn’t enough to appease Flores or sooth tensions between the two.

As one Dolphins person said, people need to stop blaming Grier entirely for the personnel moves that didn’t work out the past three years and blame them both equally. And both deserve credit for the ones that worked out.

There were plenty of players who liked and admired Flores, and let’s be clear about that. But his arrogance and bristling personality rubbed some the wrong way.

A close associate of multiple young Dolphins said the players complained to him that “he doesn’t understand dealing with men. He’s not approachable.”

When Flores saw one young player in recent months, he told him: “Don’t come to my office talking about playing time.” The player had no such intentions.

But multiple sources said he treated players different ways; a veteran such as Jason McCourty wouldn’t be treated with that same heavy hand. “He was stern with some but joked around with some guys,” the source said. “It was hard to read him.”
Interesting...

Not exactly a glowing endorsement. Almost McDaniels-like in Denver. But unlike McDaniels in Denver, Flores' results in Miami kind of speak for themselves. With one of the worst (rawest?) rosters in the NFL.
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Saw this random Dolphins fan's take on the Bears subreddit. Not sure how much truth there is to it:
Love Flo. Really do. But I fear Chicago is a really bad fit for him. He just doesn’t understand the offensive side of the ball and with Justin entering year 2, this could be a disaster for his development.

He burned the bridge with his best OC after year 1. Then brought Chan Gailey’s corpse out of retirement and then fired him and hired Co-OC’s this past season and it was a mess. Not saying it’s impossible for it to work but I’d be wary

The man hired a rookie o line coach for a very young o line after trading and cutting his best 2 veteran o linemen. The result was a historically bad offensive line that caused Tua to develop an antsy habit in the pocket where he would kinda start to panic whenever (rarely) he had more than 2 seconds in the pocket
Some people even compared to Wannstedt; great defensive mind but not a good HC.
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He kind of scares me. Kind of comes across as a control freak. I am not in this guy's corner at all.
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Otis Day wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:23 pm He kind of scares me. Kind of comes across as a control freak. I am not in this guy's corner at all.
I don't care about personality any more. I want the Bears to win football games. The devil himself could crawl out of the ground and coach the Bears, and if it resulted in a consistent winner with super bowl appearances, I'd be as happy as a clam.
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I think there is a lot of damage control coming out of Miami - everyone was shocked that they would fire Flores after the coaching job he did this year. Seems like a very typical power struggle that the coach lost and the GM won.

Here is an article from the RInger that explains things fairly well:

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/1/10 ... ephen-ross

a snippet:
"The Dolphins got the quarterback position wrong. After Flores’s strong finish to the 2019 season, they were positioned to take one of the three premier QBs in the 2020 draft: LSU’s Joe Burrow, Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, and Oregon’s Justin Herbert. Two are now the fastest-rising superstars in the league; the third is the guy the Dolphins took. Burrow was already off the board when the Dolphins turned on the clock with the fifth pick, but after months of smokescreening and debating, the Dolphins took Tua over Herbert.

The Dolphins got the quarterback position wrong, and while there are a lot of different ways to get that wrong, disagreement between the people drafting the quarterback is a terrible place to start. Reports have it that Flores preferred Herbert over Tua, while Ross had no interest in Herbert. A fracture between head coach and owner, with the general manager (understandably) siding with his boss come draft day, makes the following trainwreck in Miami more easy to parse.

In 2020, Flores started Ryan Fitzpatrick over Tagovailoa until the bye week, when he named Tua the starter shortly after discussing a cautious, slow onboarding for Tagovailoa’s NFL career. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Dolphins’ strong projected position for the 2021 NFL draft increased their urgency to evaluate Tua, in case they needed to select another early quarterback in consecutive drafts—something Flores, who presumably didn’t want Tua, would be pushing to the front office and ownership. Flores further pushed that envelope when he benched Tua not once, but twice during his rookie season, facing fourth-quarter deficits that he hoped Fitzpatrick could eliminate—a move that worked in Week 16, magically keeping the Dolphins’ playoff hopes alive.

Then the offseason came, and Deshaun Watson was available for trade. The Dolphins were central in every Watson rumor, but again, it seemed that the priorities of the nucleus were not in line. Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Flores was one of the biggest things drawing Watson to Miami—and that without him, Watson may no longer be interested; Peter King reported at the trade deadline that Ross was not interested in making a push for Watson."
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Ian Rappaport was talking about how Flores butted heads with Grier and Stephen Ross on the Pat McAffee show yesterday. That article above goes into more detail and makes sense out of what Rappaport was talking about. Being as how the McKaskey's want harmony in the building I do not see this guy getting the job here.
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I recall reading where Flores thought Herbert should go #1 and was beside himself when Ross/Grier took Tua over him.
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The more I think about it the more I doubt him. His success as a HC so far hinges on two late season runs when they played YOLO ball. And is he even a good DC? Does anyone understand why his defense sucked for most of the season even after they spent so much on adding players?
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wab wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:00 pm
The Cooler King wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:35 am He's a good coach obviously, but sounds like the OC/OL concerns are real. He has to answer for that.

Looks like 4 OCs in 3 years?!? And I saw someone say several OL coach changes too. Accountability is cool and all but that does sound chaotic and sounds like that all really played a role in his FO relationship breaking down.
He and GM Chris Grier did. not. like. each. other. Flores was of the opinion that Grier was wasting high draft picks on guys that weren't ready to contribute right away. He wanted to sit them until they were ready but Grier wanted them on the field (primarily Tua).

The turnover at OC/OL was more Grier than Flores. He wanted to get people who could make guys like Tua, Robert Hunt, Austin Jackson, and others productive.

Then there's the Watson thing. Watson wanted to play for Flores. Ross and Grier don't want any part of Watson. They want Tua to work out.

So... the deck was kind of stacked against Flores.
It sounds like Flores is kind of a fucking asshole, no?

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt- ... 41207.html

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/1/10 ... ephen-ross
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G08 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:50 pm
wab wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:00 pm
He and GM Chris Grier did. not. like. each. other. Flores was of the opinion that Grier was wasting high draft picks on guys that weren't ready to contribute right away. He wanted to sit them until they were ready but Grier wanted them on the field (primarily Tua).

The turnover at OC/OL was more Grier than Flores. He wanted to get people who could make guys like Tua, Robert Hunt, Austin Jackson, and others productive.

Then there's the Watson thing. Watson wanted to play for Flores. Ross and Grier don't want any part of Watson. They want Tua to work out.

So... the deck was kind of stacked against Flores.
It sounds like Flores is kind of a fucking asshole, no?

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt- ... 41207.html

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/1/10 ... ephen-ross
I've learned to take media reports after someone is fired with a grain of salt.
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dplank wrote:I agree with Rich here
RichH55 wrote: Dplank is correct
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thunderspirit wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:55 pm
G08 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:50 pm

It sounds like Flores is kind of a fucking asshole, no?

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt- ... 41207.html

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/1/10 ... ephen-ross
I've learned to take media reports after someone is fired with a grain of salt.
There's a common theme with his attitude and issues with ownership and the GM. No bueno... but at the same time the dude won with a pretty shitty team.

I guess I'd like his fans to sell me on him -- admittedly I don't know a lot about him.
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G08 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:08 pm
thunderspirit wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:55 pm

I've learned to take media reports after someone is fired with a grain of salt.
There's a common theme with his attitude and issues with ownership and the GM. No bueno... but at the same time the dude won with a pretty shitty team.

I guess I'd like his fans to sell me on him -- admittedly I don't know a lot about him.
I don't know much about him either. Except that he dragged a really bad football team to a winning record two years in a row.
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I wouldn’t be upset.
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I'm lukewarm on Flores. And I really don't want this team to hire a head coach unless that person is the most powerful in the organization until the GM is hired. Has to be accountability for the GM on the Head Coach.

The entire Belichek (and Reid) tree makes me itchy.
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Can’t see the McCaskeys picking this guy whether he’s good or not.
Questions about his character = no soup.
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G08 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:08 pm
thunderspirit wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:55 pm

I've learned to take media reports after someone is fired with a grain of salt.
There's a common theme with his attitude and issues with ownership and the GM. No bueno... but at the same time the dude won with a pretty shitty team.

I guess I'd like his fans to sell me on him -- admittedly I don't know a lot about him.
Local Dolphins viewer here...He's viewed pretty positively and was a surprise fire given how well they ended the year. That said, it's transplant city around here so there's more Giants and Jets fans than Dolphins fans.
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Yea it sounds like he wants to be Belichick. But theres probably only one Belichick. I don't think they should be prepared to make him their Belichick.

And it's not a personality issue as much as a organization issues. It's not in any way trying to find a broad org builder, just hoping you find a football savant. I want the org builder, asshole, nice, or whatever.
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G08 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:50 pm
wab wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:00 pm
He and GM Chris Grier did. not. like. each. other. Flores was of the opinion that Grier was wasting high draft picks on guys that weren't ready to contribute right away. He wanted to sit them until they were ready but Grier wanted them on the field (primarily Tua).

The turnover at OC/OL was more Grier than Flores. He wanted to get people who could make guys like Tua, Robert Hunt, Austin Jackson, and others productive.

Then there's the Watson thing. Watson wanted to play for Flores. Ross and Grier don't want any part of Watson. They want Tua to work out.

So... the deck was kind of stacked against Flores.
It sounds like Flores is kind of a fucking asshole, no?

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt- ... 41207.html

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/1/10 ... ephen-ross
Says the guy advertising for McDaniels for the past few months.

;)
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The Marshall Plan wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 2:39 pm
G08 wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:50 pm

It sounds like Flores is kind of a fucking asshole, no?

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt- ... 41207.html

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/1/10 ... ephen-ross
Says the guy advertising for McDaniels for the past few months.

;)
Touche, but I'd argue McDaniels has a much better resume!
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I'm 50/50 with Flores. I'm fine with the Bears hiring an asshole to be their coach, but I don't think that Flores' record overrides the shitty personality.
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UOK wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:26 pm I'm 50/50 with Flores. I'm fine with the Bears hiring an asshole to be their coach, but I don't think that Flores' record overrides the shitty personality.
Same
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