Brian Flores is making odd off-season hires for the Miami Dolphins
By Brian Miller
Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores impressed a lot of people in NFL circles last season but he has started the off-season with some questionable decisions.
When it comes to Brian Flores and what he wants for his coaching staff, who are we to judge? Unfortunately, that is human nature. That is being a die-hard fan and yes, that is writing an article bringing attention to it. Not for the sake of saying he is wrong or right but for the sake of debating amongst ourselves.
That is what we are doing here. Are these moves being made by a man who knows exactly what he wants and expects or are these moves the product of a coach who may be getting into his own head? After the 2019 season, he gets the benefit of the doubt.
Flores kicked off the end of the season by firing his offensive coordinator, his safety coach, and his offensive line coach. Whether we believe any or all three deserved it, Flores apparently felt it was necessary. Truth be told we don’t really criticize him for it but we do question the coaches he is bringing on board.
O’Shea was replaced with Chan Gailey. At 67 years old, Gailey hasn’t coached in two years after retiring. The Dolphins have yet to make his hire official with an announcement of any kind. Oddly, Jim Caldwell who walked away from the team last year for medical reasons is expected to interview for a position with the Eagles. That is a question that many are pondering as he could have replaced O’Shea or returned to Miami in an advisory role.
Flores’ decision to replace O’Shea is one thing but he replaced his safety coach with a high-school coach with no experience at the NFL level. A coach who has ties to Bill Belichick’s father because they attended the same high-school. Now, Curt Kunz has spent seven years at Struthers High-School and now will be coaching an NFL football team.
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With secondary coach Tony Oden and OC Chad O’Shea out, the Dolphins still need to fill one critical coaching spot. Offensive line. Dave DeGuglielmo was fired along with the other two but that job has not been filled.
According to Ian Rapoport, the Dolphins are also hiring Illinois DL coach Austin Clark to coach the outside linebackers. Todd Archer of ESPN is reporting that Cowboys offensive line coach Marc Colombo will not return to Dallas. Jason Garrett was not retained and Mike McCarthy will bring in his own staff. Joe Philbin’s name has floated.
Interestingly enough, Colombo and Flores were teammates in college. Colombo finished a nine-year career in 2011 with the Miami Dolphins having previously played in Chicago and Dallas. Dallas had a top 10 offensive line but also had a lot more talent.
What is clear is that the off-season is just getting started and we can expect more moves ahead of the start of free agency in mid-March.