Brian Flores

In 2004, at the age of 22, Flores joined the Patriots as a scouting assistant, the same year the franchise won it's 3rd Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXIX. He became a pro scout in 2006 before moving to the coaching staff as a special teams coaching assistant in 2008. His title was changed to assistant coach offense/special teams in 2010. He was named defensive assistant in 2011, where Flores and the Patriots would appear in Super Bowl XLVI, but lost 17-21 to the New York Giants in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII. In 2012, he was named safeties' coach. In his 4-year tenure as safeties' coach, the Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks to win their 4th Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XLIX. Flores was named linebackers' coach ahead of the 2016 season. That same year, Flores and the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI after the Pats were down 3-28, would rally to win the game 34-28 in the first Super Bowl to be decided in overtime. A day after the Patriots lost Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles, long-time assistant Matt Patricia left to become the new head coach of the Detroit Lions, and Flores would take over the Patriots' defensive playcalling duties, but was not given the title of defensive coordinator.[3] In Flores' last game with the Patriots, Super Bowl LIII, they defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in both a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVI and the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in NFL history. It would also turn out to be the final Super Bowl win in the Brady-Belichick era.

On February 4, 2019, the day after the Patriots won their 6th Super Bowl title and after 15 years of serving as a Patriots assistant, Flores was hired as 12th head coach of the Miami Dolphins, becoming the fourth Latino in NFL history to become a head coach, after Ron Rivera, Tom Fears, and Tom Flores,[4] the second former Belichick assistant to coach the team (the first being Nick Saban from 2005-2006), and the first black person to coach the team as well.[5]

On September 8, 2019, the Dolphins lost to the Baltimore Ravens 59–10 in Flores' head coaching debut. Again in week two, the Dolphins lost 43–0 to Flores' former team, the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, leaving the Dolphins outscored by a total of 163 points as of the team's bye week in Week 5, which had included blowout losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers. After a 2-month winless start, Flores recorded his first win as a head coach in a 26–18 home victory over the division rival New York Jets on November 3, 2019. The Jets were led by Flores' predecessor and former Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, and that game was his first visit to Miami since the Dolphins fired him in December 2018. Flores followed this by earning his second consecutive win against the Indianapolis Colts the following week, which was Miami's first road win since Week 2 of the 2018 season. Flores' first season as head coach concluded with a 27–24 upset win over his former team, the Patriots, and was also the Dolphins' first road win over the Pats since 2008.[6] In his first season as a head coach, Flores led the Dolphins to a 5–11 record, finishing 5-4 after beginning the season 0-7, and 4th place in the AFC East.

In his second season, Flores made the decision at the start of the 2020 season to start 2nd-year quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick over rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins went on to open the season with an 0–2 start with back-to-back losses against the division rivals New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills by the scores of 21–11 and 31–28 respectively, before winning their first game of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 31–13, also Miami's first win over Jacksonville since 2014. During a Week 5 game against the defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers, the Dolphins blew out the Niners by a score of 43–17, which was their first time since 2015 scoring more than 40 points in a game, their first blowout win since December 3, 2017, and was also their first road win over the Niners since 2004. They would also begin a 5-game winning streak for the first time since 2016, after beginning the season 0-2 and then 1–3. On a Week 6 contest against the division rival New York Jets, a 24–0 win, the Dolphins were the favorites to win for the first time since Week 16 of the 2018 season, a 17–7 loss versus the Jaguars. The Dolphins were also favored to win for the first time under Flores' tenure as head coach. It was also the Dolphins' first shutout win since November 2, 2014. On October 20, Flores confirmed Tua would be the team's starting quarterback for Week 8, following their bye week, after allowing him to play the final seconds in the shutout win against the Jets.[7] In Week 8, Tua's first NFL start, the Dolphins defense upset the Los Angeles Rams 28–17, as the Dolphins defeated them for the 5th time since 2001. On November 8, Flores guided the Dolphins to a 34–31 win over the Arizona Cardinals, which was their first road win over the Cardinals since 1996 and they also began the season 5–3 for the first time since 2014. On November 15, the Dolphins defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 29–21 to improve on their 5–11 record from last season and to begin the season 6–3 for the first time since 2001. On December 6, after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 19–7, the Dolphins began the season 8–4 for the first time since 2003. On December 20, 2020, the Dolphins defeated Flores' former team, the New England Patriots, by a score of 22–12, which eliminated the Patriots from the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and the Dolphins clinched their first winning season since 2016 as well as their first under Flores' tenure. On January 3, 2021, after a 56-26 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 17, the Dolphins were eliminated from playoff contention. In his second season as head coach, Flores led the Dolphins to a 10–6 record, finishing 2nd in the AFC East. Having turned around a 5-11 team to a 10-6 record, which, were it in any other division, likely would have meant a playoff berth, brought Flores much acclaim from sports media and fans, even bringing him under consideration for NFL Coach of the Year Honours.