Bears to interview Brian Flores

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dplank
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For everyone wanting Flores and also thinks we should build our team around Justin Fields, I just have to point out that he deployed a "co-offensive coordinator" strategy in Miami. George Godsey and Eric Studesville. This concerns me. The Dolphins had the exact same yards per game as the Bears this year, and scored 1.5 pts more per game, ranking them 20th. They weren't particularly stellar on the other side of the ball either. Just sort of a milk toast, boring team that beat bad opponents and rarely beat good ones (except NE, who they beat twice I think, which around here is a BIG DEAL it's like beating the Packers twice).
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dplank wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 3:36 pm For everyone wanting Flores and also thinks we should build our team around Justin Fields, I just have to point out that he deployed a "co-offensive coordinator" strategy in Miami. George Godsey and Eric Studesville. This concerns me. The Dolphins had the exact same yards per game as the Bears this year, and scored 1.5 pts more per game, ranking them 20th. They weren't particularly stellar on the other side of the ball either. Just sort of a milk toast, boring team that beat bad opponents and rarely beat good ones (except NE, who they beat twice I think, which around here is a BIG DEAL it's like beating the Packers twice).
I'm really starting to think Flores will be the next coach of the Chicsgo Bears and I think I like it.
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Hema2.0 wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:28 pm
dplank wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 3:36 pm For everyone wanting Flores and also thinks we should build our team around Justin Fields, I just have to point out that he deployed a "co-offensive coordinator" strategy in Miami. George Godsey and Eric Studesville. This concerns me. The Dolphins had the exact same yards per game as the Bears this year, and scored 1.5 pts more per game, ranking them 20th. They weren't particularly stellar on the other side of the ball either. Just sort of a milk toast, boring team that beat bad opponents and rarely beat good ones (except NE, who they beat twice I think, which around here is a BIG DEAL it's like beating the Packers twice).
I'm really starting to think Flores will be the next coach of the Chicsgo Bears and I think I like it.
Well Hema, if you’re going to be GM then this seems definitive :D
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Hema2.0 wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:28 pm
dplank wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 3:36 pm For everyone wanting Flores and also thinks we should build our team around Justin Fields, I just have to point out that he deployed a "co-offensive coordinator" strategy in Miami. George Godsey and Eric Studesville. This concerns me. The Dolphins had the exact same yards per game as the Bears this year, and scored 1.5 pts more per game, ranking them 20th. They weren't particularly stellar on the other side of the ball either. Just sort of a milk toast, boring team that beat bad opponents and rarely beat good ones (except NE, who they beat twice I think, which around here is a BIG DEAL it's like beating the Packers twice).
I'm really starting to think Flores will be the next coach of the Chicsgo Bears and I think I like it.
I want you to be the next GM. I would hire you based on that comment alone.

Please dress really good and don’t have soup on your tie or anything. I want you to ace that interview.

If they ask you to do a fake press conference or if they prematurely announce your hiring on sports radio or anything else weird and or dousche baggy just roll with it.
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The Marshall Plan wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:40 am
Hema2.0 wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:28 pm

I'm really starting to think Flores will be the next coach of the Chicsgo Bears and I think I like it.
I want you to be the next GM. I would hire you based on that comment alone.

Please dress really good and don’t have soup on your tie or anything. I want you to ace that interview.

If they ask you to do a fake press conference or if they prematurely announce your hiring on sports radio or anything else weird and or dousche baggy just roll with it.
🤣 they wouldnt hire me for the morning greeter at Halas.
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Come on Hema, you got BFO behind you!
Be you!

On second thoughts….:D
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On the attitude issues:

There’s nothing like losing your job to make you reflect. I think Flores will have been taken down a peg or 2 and will feel a little less bullet-proof (so to speak).
If he’s as talented a coach as is being touted then the other aspects can be worked on with a great GM who has a rapport with the coach.

As was pointed out, the owners will know this guys character and flaws. They wouldn’t invite him for an interview if he wasn’t a viable hire. It’s not like we’re struggling to find interviewees.

I’m getting more enthusiastic for this hire
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To be clear - the Bears don't need to ignore the warts. They need to talk to him about them and find out the best way to minimize them. This guy made chicken salad out of chicken shit - if you can find a way to work with him so that he is comfortable and the ownership/management is comfortable - you have to hire him. He's just too good a coach to let go somewhere else.
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The Dolphins have a lot more talent than folks are giving them credit for IMO. They stacked high draft picks for many years. They haven't been a good team for a while and rarely get national TV exposure.
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Ditka’s dictaphone wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:28 am On the attitude issues:

There’s nothing like losing your job to make you reflect. I think Flores will have been taken down a peg or 2 and will feel a little less bullet-proof (so to speak).
If he’s as talented a coach as is being touted then the other aspects can be worked on with a great GM who has a rapport with the coach.

As was pointed out, the owners will know this guys character and flaws. They wouldn’t invite him for an interview if he wasn’t a viable hire. It’s not like we’re struggling to find interviewees.

I’m getting more enthusiastic for this hire
People are focused on attitude too much with this Flores thing. And we have each side in the media pushing a narrative.

Nice, mean, jolly, ornery, whatever. What matters is if he can lead a staff and roster of 60+. Can he be flexible and work with a GM or not?

If he can't do those things he has to be Bill Belichick football savant level good. And if he's not it will eventually flop hard.
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Looks like it's happening today:

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dplank wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:17 am The Dolphins have a lot more talent than folks are giving them credit for IMO. They stacked high draft picks for many years. They haven't been a good team for a while and rarely get national TV exposure.
Two years. They stacked high draft picks for two years. They purposefully tanked in 2019 with the intention of getting the top pick in 2020 and taking a QB. They traded away Tunsil and Stills right before the season started for a couple of firsts and a 2nd. They had one of the worst rosters in the league and Flores won 5 games. Then the next year he won 10 games

So while their roster now does have talent - most of it is in their 1st or second year and the biggest position (QB) is a giant question mark with Tua underperforming expectations, and Flores still had a winning record both seasons.
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Xee wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:36 am Looks like it's happening today:

Hackett tomorrow I think :thumbsup:
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Hiphopopotamos wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:45 am
dplank wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:17 am The Dolphins have a lot more talent than folks are giving them credit for IMO. They stacked high draft picks for many years. They haven't been a good team for a while and rarely get national TV exposure.
Two years. They stacked high draft picks for two years. They purposefully tanked in 2019 with the intention of getting the top pick in 2020 and taking a QB. They traded away Tunsil and Stills right before the season started for a couple of firsts and a 2nd. They had one of the worst rosters in the league and Flores won 5 games. Then the next year he won 10 games

So while their roster now does have talent - most of it is in their 1st or second year and the biggest position (QB) is a giant question mark with Tua underperforming expectations, and Flores still had a winning record both seasons.
And most of the picks were really really raw guys who weren't ready but had high upside.
Jaelan Phillips
Liam Eichenberg
Tua Tagovailoa
Austin Jackson
Noah Igbinoghene
Raekwon Davis
Robert Hunt
Curtis Weaver
Christian Wilkins

This looks like a college all-star team roster. However none of these guys (save for maybe Raekwon Davis) were considered ready to play on day one.
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I'm getting it now. Brian Flores was fighting an uphill battle against pretty shitty ownership and his win/loss numbers don't tell the whole story.
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I'm still confused about him. Some say all the bad talk about him was a smear campaign, others say it's proof that his behavior was so bad even his ability to win wasn't enough to overcome it.

I hope the Bears are able to figure out the truth during the interview process.
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Xee wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 3:36 pm I'm still confused about him. Some say all the bad talk about him was a smear campaign, others say it's proof that his behavior was so bad even his ability to win wasn't enough to overcome it.

I hope the Bears are able to figure out the truth during the interview process.
I think this may end up being one of Polian's greatest assets in the interview. George/Ted probably have never sat as close to that coach/FO dynamic to cut through the BS. The game may have passed Bill by in some areas, but office politics have prob changed less than the x's and o's.
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Chicago Sun Times article on Flores:
Ex-Dolphins coach Brian Flores could be what Bears need, but it’s complicated
Flores’ firing was the stunner of Black Monday. But there’s a reason why such a promising coach is available.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2022 ... omplicated
It's a pretty balanced article.

These points concern me though:
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported there was an explosive confrontation between Flores and Tagovailoa at halftime in Week 17.

-

Flores, for example, burned through four offensive coordinators and two defensive coordinators in just three seasons. He fired his first offensive line coach one week into training camp. He opted for an ill-fated setup of co-offensive coordinators last season.
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HisRoyalSweetness wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:11 pm Chicago Sun Times article on Flores:
Ex-Dolphins coach Brian Flores could be what Bears need, but it’s complicated
Flores’ firing was the stunner of Black Monday. But there’s a reason why such a promising coach is available.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2022 ... omplicated
It's a pretty balanced article.

These points concern me though:
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported there was an explosive confrontation between Flores and Tagovailoa at halftime in Week 17.

-

Flores, for example, burned through four offensive coordinators and two defensive coordinators in just three seasons. He fired his first offensive line coach one week into training camp. He opted for an ill-fated setup of co-offensive coordinators last season.
Hoge & Jahns do a really good job of talking about Flores on a recent podcast.

In summation, Flores wanted the Dolphins to draft Herbert. They drafted Tua instead. The whole thing was doomed from the start.
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The Marshall Plan wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:15 am In summation, Flores wanted the Dolphins to draft Herbert. They drafted Tua instead. The whole thing was doomed from the start.
I get that but I still want an HC who can work with the cards he’s been dealt.
Now Flores has done that, he’s had poor rosters and overachieved, but there has to be a way of getting your message across without alienating players.
Luckily I think we have some mentally strong characters in our team - like Fields.
It would be a culture shock from the Nagy era, could be a positive thing, could sort out the men from the boys but it may take a season to adjust
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This problem of not just who but when is baked into the process they are using.
If you find the HC candidate you really like you either hire him before the GM which seems dangerous to say the least or you tell him to come back later after you hire the GM and then interview with the new guy.
With this many job openings this seems like a very strange and risky strategy.
So reportedly, Flores got fired for clashing with the GM (and QB) but he is going to jump on a job where the GM is named TBD?
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Brian Flores also looks like Franklin from GTA 5.

This is a huge plus.

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Xee wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 3:36 pm I'm still confused about him. Some say all the bad talk about him was a smear campaign, others say it's proof that his behavior was so bad even his ability to win wasn't enough to overcome it.

I hope the Bears are able to figure out the truth during the interview process.
He sounds like he was a bit unhinged and power hungry. Which, I don't know, I've been saying our building needs an alpha but there's a fucking line.

Maybe it's him? I just don't want some tyrant threatening to burn down Halas Hall if he doesn't get what he wants.


The shit with Tua was just weird... he was making him take drug tests because he thought he was on PEDs for fuck's sake. I get that he doesn't like the kid, but good lord.
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“They don’t have to like him, they don’t have to love him, but they respect him,” McCaskey said, referring to a principle in one of Polian’s books. “So the primary quality we’ll be looking for in the general manager and the head coach is leadership.”
“Flo’ is intense, and he gets after you when you’re not doing your job, and that’s what a coach does,” offensive tackle Jesse Davis said. “Some days you may not want to hear it, but most days that’s what you needed to hear. The guys in the building responded pretty well to it or they wouldn’t have been there.”
I mean, shit. I like intense and I love accountability.


Maybe "kumbaya" Rick Smith as GM would work well with "fryin'" Brian Flores (working on his nickname)
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I like this guy and what he can bring. He's like Jerrod Mayo, who is being touted as the hot new candidate but Flores has considerably more coaching experience along with having been a head coach. I'm just concerned about his infighting with his GM and with Tua during the season. Flores was kind of treated like Fox in that both recommended other QBs be drafted and their GM totally ignored their recommendations. But what's coach going to do, quit? I guess if a GM consistently picks guys he doesn't want, it indicates a bad organizational fit and he'd have to consider moving on.
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If maximizing Justin Fields is our goal, why would we want Flores? He went through a few coaches fast, clashed with his QB, and ran a laughable ‘dual OC’ model last year. If Nagy did that stuff here we’d be losing our minds over it.

I’m basically at the point where I really want Harbaugh or Day. If we can’t then I’d be ok with Bowles, Daboll, and to a lesser extent Leftwich or Eberflus. I’m against hiring Flores, Pederson, Frazier, or Quinn.
Last edited by dplank on Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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I like Flores, he's like an even more intense Tomlin. I can just see the first time he raises his voice at George and George pissing himself and calling security. I just don't see this one happening.
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dplank wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:09 am If maximizing Justin Fields is our goal, why would we want Flores? He went through a few coaches fast, clashed with his QB, and ran a laughable ‘dual OC’ model last year. If Nagy did that stuff here we’d be losing our minds over it.
THIS

can one of you who love Flores PLEASE explain to me the rational about his going through offensive coaches? What is Flores going to do different for his offensive coaches this time? Why should he be trusted to have a stable offensive coaching staff when he has shown the opposite?

Picking a head coach is as much about that staff that coach can attract as it is the coach himself.
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Personally for me, and with the offensive concerns, I'd want to see offensive staff in hand with Flores. If he can't assure me he has a quality O staff ready to sign the dotted line with him I have real concerns with that aspect.

So like a Flores/Caldwell pairing would eliminate my concerns.

As far as the personality stuff: while I'm always hesitant to compare my life/sports experiences with that of a professional athlete, I'm sure most of us have had a coach who was a hard ass who communicated well and got a message across who we respected and a hard ass coach who we hated and failed to actually communicate and teach beyond being a hard ass. I imagine it's probably similar even in the pros. You're not there to make friends, and it's probably hard to describe the difference except you know it when you see it.

Listened to an interesting podcast the other night too with Dominique Foxworth as one of the guests. One area he talked about that was interesting was that it isn't necessarily a coaches job to install culture. He said culture exists without a coach and it's the coaches job to install his philosophies and meld with existing culture. So they might move culture a lot, but a guy can't necessarily come in with my way or the highway attitude. His example was with Harbaugh, and granted they had an established culture with HOFs on the roster, but I thought it was still an interesting point. No coach can come in and install a new culture on day one. It's incrimemtal.
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