Brian Flores is one of the many names being floated around as a head coach candidate for the coming year, but one of his former players offered a bit of a warning to other teams that might be interested.
Ryan Fitzpatrick spent two seasons (2019 and 2020) with the Dolphins under Flores — who was fired after the 2021 season — and said the former Miami coach had a very hot-and-cold tenure.
Fitzpatrick, speaking this week on the “Fitz & Whit” podcast, said that during year one in Miami, Flores was both “likable” and “relatable” despite a 5-11 season.
However, Fitzpatrick believed by the time Flores was at the end of his Dolphins tenure, something changed to make him “unrecognizable.”
So much so in fact that the former quarterback said that Flores became akin to a “dictator.”
“But, when people say, ‘Give me somebody from Miami that coached under you as a reference, so we can talk to them,’ I think he burned a lot of bridges there. I think he alienated himself from the entire staff,” he told cohost Andrew Whitworth. “Instead of what you were just talking about, having the humility to ask questions, to collaborate, I think by the end of his time there he became a dictator. He ruined a lot of relationships that he built up through the NFL. And his ego grew so big that there wasn’t room for anyone else.”
Flores finished with back-to-back winning seasons in 2020 and 2021 but was ultimately fired after missing the playoffs each season.
According to a report from the Miami Herald at the time of his ouster, Flores had wanted more power within the Dolphins organization.
After his firing, he has taken assistant gigs with the Steelers and Vikings, becoming the latter’s defensive coordinator in 2023.
This came after he filed a lawsuit against the NFL and a number of teams — including the Dolphins and Giants — alleging discrimination and that some teams offer “sham interviews.”
That legal process has not yet been completed.
Flores told reporters this week that he’s looking forward to speaking with any interested teams.
“It’s an honor, certainly, that I definitely don’t take that lightly,” Flores said. “I look forward to having those conversations and talking to people about my football journey, my leadership journey.”
Fitzpatrick later wrote on X that he is still friends with Flores and believes the coach as “learned a lot.”
“I really like Brian Flores and consider him a friend….the end in Miami wasn’t pretty but I think he has grown and can look back on his tenure in Miami knowing he wasn’t perfect and has learned a lot,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
The Jets, Jaguars and Bears are among the teams publicly interested in interviewing Flores.
