Brian Flores is best known in New England for his decade-plus tenure with the Patriots, an 11-year apprenticeship to head coach Bill Belichick that ended when Flores left to coach the division rival Dolphins last season.
He is one in the long line of Belichick assistants who have gone on to coach elsewhere, the so-called tree that includes Bill O’Brien, Matt Patricia, and a boomeranging Josh McDaniels.
All of them left Belichick’s employ with his blessing and his support, which no doubt they appreciated. Because along with it came his shadow, a mandate to stay one step ahead of Belichick’s long résumé of championship success. It’s a shadow that can swallow those not ready for it, especially if they don’t figure out how to establish their own identity. To try to be Belichick doesn’t work unless you actually are Belichick, because his disciplined rules and taciturn ways are backed by the six Super Bowl titles he has won in New England.
Flores, the 39-year-old rising coaching star in his second year in Miami, gets it.
Advertisement
He is his own man.
As he prepares to take on the Patriots in Sunday’s season opener, Flores continues a rise that feels at once dizzyingly fast and painstakingly slow. Either way, it is undeniably hard-earned.
Put it all together and what you get is one of the easiest people to root for in all of sports, a man who is so appreciative of the life he has built that he has described himself as a literal version of the American Dream. But he also sees how many inequities still exist in society, and he is willing to work toward solutions.
A breakout star of the virtual NFL draft (well, his kids were the breakout stars anyway), Flores has made it pretty clear what Miami management saw in him during those Super Bowl Week interviews in 2019.
Advertisement
We all saw it this offseason, with Flores emerging as a wise and confident voice in the NFL’s conversation on racial equality and social justice, stepping up as one of the few Black coaches in the NFL, speaking up and speaking out on important issues. But he proves it within his own team walls, too, leading the rebuilding Dolphins out of an 0-8 start to a 5-11 finish in 2019, that fifth win memorably coming at Gillette Stadium and portending the Patriots' stunning exit from the playoffs a week later.
He still occasionally sounds like Belichick, and the echoes were certainly there as Flores talked about that shocking victory last year and whether it gives the Dolphins momentum for this year.
“No,” he told his local reporters Monday. “This year is this year, last year was last year.”
“There’s not much relevance,” he repeated Wednesday in a call with New England media. “New England’s different, we’re different, it’s a new year, it’s a different year. It’s all different, no fans.
"We as an organization and a team are not really looking at last year’s game and taking much from it. We’re just focused on having a good practice today, trying to string a few good practices together this week, and play a competitive game against a very good team.”
Those are the good lessons from the Patriot Way, a hyperfocused approach to preparation and detail that has served New England so well for so long. Belichick understands it better than anyone and can see from afar what his onetime assistant is trying to build.
Advertisement
“He very much has his stamp on it,” Belichick said Wednesday. “It’s his program and he’s done things the way that he wants to do them and what he believes in.
"They certainly took their lumps on that in the first quarter of the season last year. But, as the season went on, they developed more consistency and got things in a much better place, you know, and end up winning five games. Beat several good teams, beat us at the end of the year.”
Might this student eventually eclipse the teacher? It is far-fetched, and far too early to speculate, especially given that Belichick could end up being considered the best coach of all time.
But Flores has taken some good early steps, that much is clear. And with all the changes in New England, with two decades of Tom Brady giving way to the first year of Cam Newton, there might never be a better time to break that ridiculous chokehold Belichick and his team have had on the AFC East.
Flores has as good a chance as anyone to be the changing guard.
“Just looking at what they’ve done in terms of roster building, it’s pretty clear that Brian has a plan,” Belichick said. “He knows where he’s going. And he’s taking steps to get there. That’s pretty obvious.”
Advertisement
The steps Flores took to get here have been well-chronicled. The son of Honduran immigrants was raised in the very tough Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville to value family, education, and hard work above all. He discovered football, earned a scholarship to Boston College, and hasn’t stopped learning since. Pretty easy to root for.
Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at tara.sullivan@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @Globe_Tara.
"easy" - Google News
September 10, 2020 at 02:46AM
https://ift.tt/3m5KXUB
Why it’s easy to root for Brian Flores, Bill Belichick’s former apprentice and next opponent - The Boston Globe
"easy" - Google News
https://ift.tt/38z63U6
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Why it’s easy to root for Brian Flores, Bill Belichick’s former apprentice and next opponent - The Boston Globe"
Post a Comment