Fansided

Ranking the best NFL head coaches heading into the 2019 season

By Brad Weiss

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 03: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots looks on prior to Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 03, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 03: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots looks on prior to Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 03, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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DAVIE, FL – APRIL 16: Head coach Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins talks to the media prior to the team’s voluntary minicamp on April 16, 2019 at the Miami Dolphins training facility in Davie, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
DAVIE, FL – APRIL 16: Head coach Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins talks to the media prior to the team’s voluntary minicamp on April 16, 2019 at the Miami Dolphins training facility in Davie, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /

Brian Flores. 31. team. 59. . .

The road to becoming an NFL head coach was a long one for Brian Flores, who takes over for the fired Adam Gase as the man in charge of a rebuilding Miami Dolphins team this Fall. For Flores, who was a solid linebacker during his time at Boston College, he had to work his way up the ranks with the New England Patriots, getting some incredible experience along the way.

An injury forced Flores to stop playing football, and he latched on as a scouting assistant with the Patriots in 2004 at only 22 years old. From there, Flores worked his way to being a scout, then an assistant coach, before his last job in New England, coaching the linebackers and calling the plays for the Patriots defense.

During his time in New England, Flores was a member of four Super Bowl winning teams, and seven AFC Championship wins. After taking over for the departed Matt Patricia in 2018 in terms of playcalling, Flores was not given the defensive coordinator title, but many on the Patriots viewed him as such.

Working under Bill Belichick for 15 years definitely gives Flores the training he needs to be a successful head coach in the NFL, but his peers have failed in the role in the past. Still, he was the first man to interview with the Dolphins when Gase was fired, was offered the job on January 11, and will have the next five years to prove he belongs as a head coach at the NFL level.

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