It was quite apparent that when hiring a first-time head coach that there will be some growing pains as with anything in life when we try it for the first time. The Job of an NFL head coach must be one of the most difficult and stressful jobs in the entire world with millions of fans along with every sports media shows and analyst watching and second guessing your every move.
The NFL is the TOP sport in this Country and in this age of pandemics we have been more glued to TV more than since it is invention. The NFL is in high demand.
Brian Flores is now in his 3rd season as Miami’s head coach, there have been some good times and tough times so let us review his performance to date and talk about the future moving forward.
Miami at the end of the 2018-19 season decided to do a total rebuild and after firing then HC Adam Gase and moving on from VP of operation Mike Tannenbaum, Dolphins Owner handed the reigns over to then de facto GM Chris Grier. The first move Grier made was to hire the next head coach a person at the time I had no clue who he was.
Naturally when the name Brian Flores started to circulate as the possible next head coach I scrambled to find out about this man. I was not a fan of hiring another first-time head coach as that was the route Miami had taken the past few years of hiring coaches and I wanted a veteran HC to take over Miami.
After reading Brian Flores’ Bio I as always hoped he would be the right pick but still worried about his lack of experience as a HC.
The 2019 season started off with free agency and the draft
Gone were fans favorite veteran players and they added new veteran players to begin the Brian Flores era:
Out with the Old:
- QB Ryan Tannehill (Traded to Tennessee)
- OT Ja’Wuan James (Signed with Denver)
- DE Cameron Wake (Signed with Tennessee)
In with the New:
- Ryan Fitzpatrick, quarterback
- Dwayne Allen, tight end
- Eric Rowe, cornerback
2019 NFL Draft Class
- Round 1 — DT Christian Wilkins. (Hit)
- Round 3 — G Michael Deiter. (HIT)
- Round 5 — LB Andrew Van Ginkel. (HIT)
- Round 6 — T Isaiah Prince. (Miss)
- Round 7 — FB Chandler Cox. (MISS)
- Round 7 — RB Myles Gaskin. (HIT)
In Brian Flores first season the decision was made to do a total rebuild and thus the great purge happened as Miami’s GM Chris Grier proceeded to tear that roster apart and proceeded to have a fire sale dumping overloaded contracts and veteran players who’s bloated delas left Miami in cap Hell.
Miami also made a huge trade “We have acquired a 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-round pick, a 2021 second-round pick, CB Johnson Bademosi and T Julien Davenport from the Texans in exchange for T Laremy Tunsil, WR Kenny Stills, a 2020 fourth-round pick and a 2021 sixth-round pick.”
Miami also dealt disgruntled crybaby Minkah Fitzpatrick
Minkah Fitzpatrick‘s wish has been granted.
The Miami Dolphins safety was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, along with a 2020 fourth-round pick and a 2021 seventh-round pick, in exchange for a first- and fifth-round pick in 2020 and 2021 sixth-round pick, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday night. The Steelers and Dolphins confirmed the trade on Tuesday morning.
By the time the purging was complete Miami’s had a depleted roster and they were just trying to find any bodies to fill the roster as they brought in any free agents with a pulse as well as a lot of players who were former first round bust hoping to see if they could revive their careers.
It did not work and if you look at the win/loss record of 2019 you will see how dreadful things were early on as Miami got blasted the first 4 games of the season and lost their first 7 games of Brian Flores first season and as usual fans and media alike were questioning the hiring of Flores.
The narrative of Miami tanking for Tua was falsely thrown out there by a Dolphin Troll who started that lie and it was quickly picked up by the national puppets!
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | NFL.com recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 8 | Baltimore Ravens | L 10–59 | 0–1 | Hard Rock Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 15 | New England Patriots | L 0–43 | 0–2 | Hard Rock Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | September 22 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 6–31 | 0–3 | AT&T Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | September 29 | Los Angeles Chargers | L 10–30 | 0–4 | Hard Rock Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | Bye | |||||
| 6 | October 13 | Washington Redskins | L 16–17 | 0–5 | Hard Rock Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 20 | at Buffalo Bills | L 21–31 | 0–6 | New Era Field | Recap |
| 8 | October 28 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–27 | 0–7 | Heinz Field | Recap |
| 9 | November 3 | New York Jets | W 26–18 | 1–7 | Hard Rock Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 10 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 16–12 | 2–7 | Lucas Oil Stadium | Recap |
| 11 | November 17 | Buffalo Bills | L 20–37 | 2–8 | Hard Rock Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 24 | at Cleveland Browns | L 24–41 | 2–9 | FirstEnergy Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 1 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 37–31 | 3–9 | Hard Rock Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 8 | at New York Jets | L 21–22 | 3–10 | MetLife Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 15 | at New York Giants | L 20–36 | 3–11 | MetLife Stadium | Recap |
| 16 | December 22 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 38–35 (OT) | 4–11 | Hard Rock Stadium | Recap |
| 17 | December 29 | at New England Patriots | W 27–24 | 5–11 | Gillette Stadium | Recap |
As the season moved on and after a 7-game slide coming out the gate to start his coaching career Brian Flores coaching abilities started to be on display starting in week nine when they beat the Jets and former Dolphin HC Adam Gase on November 3rd 2019 by the score of 26–18 and Miami would go on to win 5 games and prove they were never tanking.
The way Miami ended the 2019 season left a lot of us with optimism moving forward and with about 200 million to spend in free agency and a boat load of draft picks including 3 first round picks again
I personally feel that season one under Brian Flores should have an asterisk next to it due to the roster purging done and he should not be held accountable for the train reck he inherited.
Next Up: Part 2 Stay Tuned
The Dolphin Seer 