Brian Flores is doing well for now but vets may not buy what he’s selling
By Brian Miller
Brian Flores has done a good job with the roster he has this year with the Miami Dolphins but how well it will be received by veterans remains to be seen.
When Brian Flores became the Miami Dolphins head coach, he and Chris Grier took to the task of dismantling the roster from top to bottom. It would continue all season long. Now, with the season ending in two weeks, Flores and Grier will not get many more passes.
Everyone knew that the 2019 season would be a throw-a-way year. No one expected the Dolphins to win and very few expected to see a week-to-week improvement by so many undrafted rookies and street free agents. Despite what one local beat-writer wants you to believe, there was.
Flores wants things done a certain way. He is trying to bring what he learned in New England to South Florida and at times, it appears to be working but what happens when the roster isn’t comprised of young guys just wanting to play games in the NFL? What happens when he is selling his ideas, schemes, and plans to veterans who have been around more than training camps?
That is the task that is in front of Flores in 2020. Chris Grier has said that the team will be aggressive in free agency come March of 2020 and that means spending a lot of that $100 million-plus cap space. That means bringing in top talent veterans who have been playing elsewhere. That means convincing them that what is going on in Miami is the right way to do things.
After Grier gets the proverbial groceries, it will Flores who has to cook the dinner. Flores and his staff have done a good job this year of teaching fundamental football. They have cut down on pre-snap penalties and remain one of the leagues least penalized team.
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Since the departure of Kenny Stills, the Dolphins have avoided drama, although they did waste not time shipping Minkah Fitzpatrick off to the Steelers. Flores doesn’t want players that are going to bring friction to his team. He wants “yes” men. He wants players that are going to put the team before anything else and that could be a problem in 2020.
Players that Miami will attract are not going to come to Miami because of Flores or because of tradition, they will come to Miami for money. They will come because of no state income tax. Those are not players that value team first and that is o.k. It will, however, be up to Flores to coach them. It will be up to Grier to identify the types of players that Flores can build around.
2019 was the easy part for Flores. He got his feet wet, he set a standard, and he established control over a team that really has little to no star talent. That will change in a few months and then we will get to see if what he is selling, the stuff us fans are starting to browse through is something that experienced players will buy.