In one of the most surprising outcomes of Black Monday, the Miami Dolphins parted ways with head coach Brian Flores. In his time as head coach, he inherited a tanking team in 2019 and led it to five wins. In 2020, the Dolphins were here to contend for a playoff spot. Flores led the team to a 10-6 record, missing the playoffs due to tiebreakers. The 2021 season was more tumultuous, going from 1-7 to 9-8, winning eight of their last nine games.
During their 1-7 start, the Dolphins lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who secured the No. 1 overall draft pick for having the worst record in the NFL. They also lost to the Atlanta Falcons, a team that finished 7-10. These two games would’ve put the Dolphins in the playoffs had they won them. Some may say that he led the team to two straight winning seasons, but he still led the team to zero playoffs appearances. It is a result-based business.
It’s being reported by many sources that the firing was unrelated to coaching reasons. Apparently, the relationship between Flores and the general manager Chris Grier was beyond repair, and owner Stephen Ross was left with the decision, Flores or Grier? In the end, he chose to keep Grier. The tension between Grier and Flores may have been due to the debate between building around Tagovailoa or trading for Deshaun Watson. Ross’ decision to keep Grier tells a story in itself; Tua will be a Dolphin in 2022.
Flores had the inability to hire a competent offensive coordinator and staff. The Dolphins ranked 30th in rushing offense, rushing for just 1,568 yards and 12 touchdowns as a team. For reference, there were seven players that rushed for at least 1,000 yards individually. The passing game was also inadequate when compared to the rest of the NFL. It’s 3,936 passing yards ranked eighteenth in the league, worse than middle of the pack.
Going forward, it’s almost guaranteed that the Dolphins will be hiring an offensive-minded head coach to run their organization. The team was hurt by the inability to put a good offensive scheme and gameplan on the field. The Dolphins have made two interview requests as of now; 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
McDaniel would be a very interesting hire, and it shows that the Dolphins front office wants to run the ball. The 38-year-old offensive coordinator has had a large impact on the 49ers seventh ranked rushing offense, one that was missing its starting running back for six games. His run heavy scheme allows for the team to chew the clock, while also bringing the defense up, allowing for easy completions on play-action passes. McDaniel would be a first time NFL head coach if the Dolphins were to hire him.
Daboll is one of the best offensive minds in football, but would he be willing to take his first NFL head coaching job intra-division? The Daboll interest is generalized, but when one looks deeper, they can see how it made lead to a long-term partnership. Daboll was Tua Tagovailoa’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks’ coach when he was in college at Alabama, when Tua was at his best. Daboll’s offense in Buffalo finished the regular season with the fifth most yards per game with 381.9. It also averaged the third most points per game with 28.4. Like McDaniel, Daboll would be a first-time head coach in the NFL.
