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The New England Patriots won Super Bowl LIII Sunday night, winning their sixth Lombardi Trophy - tying them with the Pittsburgh Steelers for most Super Bowl wins - all of which have come since 2001. The dynasty of the Patriots continues for at least another year, and the rest of the league, and especially the rest of the AFC East, have to deal with more dominance from New England.
The end of the Super Bowl, whether the Los Angeles Rams had won or with the Patriots win, is a good thing for the Miami Dolphins. They can now officially hire their head coach. The team has been locked in on Patriots de facto defensive coordinator for a month now, but because the Patriots were in the playoffs, the Dolphins had to wait. Now, with the Super Bowl complete, Miami can begin hiring Brian Flores and his staff.
The Dolphins are expected to fly Flores to Miami Monday morning, officially adding him as the team’s tenth full-time head coach. Flores joined the NFL with the Patriots in 2004 as a scouting assistant, moving up to pro scout in 2006, then out of the front office and working as a special teams assistant in 2008. He was named an offensive assistant in addition to working with the special teams in 2010 before moving over to be a defensive assistant in 2011. In 2012, Flores assumed the role as the Patriots’ safeties coach, then became the team’s linebackers coach in 2016. He added defensive play caller in 2018, replacing former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who was hired as the Detroit Lions head coach. Flores was not given the “defensive coordinator” title by the Patriots, but essentially served in that role.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Flores’ agent, Sean Kiernan, worked with the Dolphins overnight to ensure the contract is ready for signing when Flores gets to South Florida.
Agent Sean Kiernan from @SelectSports who represents new #Dolphins coach Brian Flores, worked overnight to finalize terms on a contract. He’ll be at the Dolphins facility early with GM Chris Grier and VP Brandon Shore. Both sides expect a signed contract before today's presser.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 4, 2019
The Dolphins and Flores are expected to hire Chad O’Shea, Patriots receivers coach, as the team’s offensive coordinator; Patrick Graham, Green Bay Packers linebacker coach, as the tea’s defensive coordinator; Danny Crossman, former Buffalo Bills special teams coordinator, at the same role with the Dolphins; and, Jim Caldwell, former Detroit Lions head coach, as the team’s quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach.