Flores Flashback: The Day He Became Dolphins Head Coach

Friday marked the third anniversary of the Miami Dolphins hiring Brian Flores as head coach and his comments that day are worth revisiting

The Miami Dolphins are looking for a successor to head coach Brian Flores while dealing with the aftermath of his lawsuit and explosive allegations, which is not exactly how everyone saw things play out on this day three years ago.

On Feb. 4, 2019, the Dolphins proudly announced the hiring of Flores as their new head coach one day after he had guided the New England Patriots in their 13-3 victory against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

It's interesting to look back at the comments made during his introductory press conference that day at the team's previous training facility in Davie.

And it began with owner Stephen Ross, now being accused by Flores of offering him $100,000 per loss in his first season, marveling as the attendance in the team auditorium at the Baptist Health Training Facility.

"Look at this crowd here; you’d think we won the Super Bowl," Ross said. "I’ve never seen so many people in this room before. But really, I’m really thrilled to be here. I think this is really a historic moment in the Miami Dolphins history."

Flores was fired after three seasons with the Dolphins after compiling a 24-25 record, with Ross repeating that he was looking for collaboration and communication in the organization, the implication being that he didn't get that from Flores.

FLORES' MOST NOTABLE COMMENT FROM HIS INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE

The comment from Ross brought back what Flores said on Feb. 4, 2019 when he was asked why Miami was the place for him.

“(GM Chris Grier) mentioned it; I think our vision and our core beliefs and our core philosophy of how to build a team, they were aligned," Flores said. "That was one of the things for me, going through the process of interviewing. I told every team this – if our beliefs aren’t aligned, then don’t hire me, because if they’re not aligned, then it’s not going to work. If they’re not aligned, it doesn’t work.”

That comment also is interesting in light of the allegation brought by Flores that Ross was looking to throw games, which Flores said in multiple national television interviews led to his firing after he refused the request.

Flores also accused the Dolphins of running a smear campaign since his firing by claiming he was difficult to work with, which again brings us back to a comment from Feb. 4, 2019.

"What we were looking for is a leader and that was probably the most important aspect of what we were looking for as opposed to what we’ve seen a lot of the other teams looking for — offensive-minded coaches — because of the success of (Los Angeles Rams Head Coach) Sean McVay and some of the other great offensive minds," Ross said. "But to me, you start an organization by finding a great leader and I’m really thrilled to say that I believe we have found that leader that can really take us into the future."

As it turned out, that future last three seasons.

And while two of those produced winning records, Flores clearly left on less than desirable terms.

It was about the polar opposite of the mood in Davie on this day three years ago.