Brian Flores – December 17, 2020
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Thursday, December 17, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(What is the hardest part of your job? One, this week; two, this year?) – “Media. (laughter)”
(Seriously.) – “I love my job. I get an opportunity to work with a lot of people within this organization. Obviously the players, our coaching staff and also our support staff. I think from operations and Scott Bullis to equipment with Joe Cimino to medical with Kyle Johnston and Troy (Maurer) to our doctors, obviously (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and (Vice President of Football Administration) Brandon (Shore) and (Assistant General Manager) Marvin (Allen) in personnel and Adam Engroff and that group. I don’t think of any of it as – every day is a challenge in this league, but I kind of embrace it and enjoy it. I don’t really think of it as ‘the hardest things about…’ I would say the hardest part of my job is I don’t get to spend as much time with my wife and kids as I would like to, but I also try to get as much time with them as possible. That’s the honest answer there. The real honest answer is media is the hardest part. (laughter)”
(I wanted to ask you if you think TE Mike Gesicki has a chance to play again, but the media thing does interest me. Can you tell me a little bit more about what you think the role of the media is and all that?) – “I have a lot of respect for everything you guys do. I think you guys give voice from our team to our fans and I think that’s very important. I guess I’m busting chops a little bit, but I really have an appreciation for what you guys do. I know it’s not easy and I think you guys do a great job. What was the other part of your question? Mike Gesicki? He is working really hard. Obviously it was a tough injury last week, so he’s getting his treatment, he’s doing his rehab and we’ll see where it goes.”
(I wanted to ask you about your time in New England and I was curious, what was more beneficial for you there? Where did you learn more – on team-building and leadership or X’s and O’s? What part of that time you spent in New England was more formative for you?) – “I learned so much. I started in personnel. Scott Pioli hired me there as a scouting assistant. Those four years in personnel were very valuable. There are a lot of guys in that department who have gone on and done well for themselves – Jon Robinson, Thomas Dimitroff, Matt Russell, Marvin Allen was on the staff there when I was there. Lionel Vital. So I learned a lot from that group. Then going into coaching, working on special teams with Brad Seely who just recently retired and Scott O’Brien who retired a few years ago as well in the kicking game. Going over to offense, working with Bill O’Brien. When I went over to defense, obviously working with Bill (Belichick), Matt Patricia, obviously Josh Boyer, Pat Graham. A lot of really good coaches on both sides of the ball. I would say one of the guys who I learned as much about coaching as anyone is Dante Scarnecchia. I know he’s the o-line coach over there, but just the relationships he built with players and how demanding he was. I think I’ve tried to take a lot of what he did because he had a lot of success. Then just team building and being around a lot of very good players, very good coaches. I had some great experiences there.”
(I know you’re fond of going down memory lane – being sarcastic here – but I wanted to ask you, when you were on the scouting side of things – the time you spent with Scott Pioli – what made you want to go into coaching or was that always the intent? And what did you learn and take from the scouting side?) – “I started wanting to be in personnel and then I just felt I could have a little bit more impact on the game, so that was the reason behind trying to get into coaching. I felt like I could build relationships with players and it’s hard to do that on the personnel side. You just don’t have as much interaction with them, so I just wanted to make more of an impact; and I’m not saying there isn’t an impact on the personnel side, there’s just more interaction from the coaching side.”
(It’s getting towards the end of the year and you guys have had some success. I’m curious what your perspective is if you get questions from your assistants about wanting to interview for a different job for a different team as you get towards the offseason, whether it be coordinator or head coach or even in the personnel department? What’s your view on that and how you handle those situations?) – “I think if those opportunities present themselves, I think they should go for it if it’s something that they’re interested in. I’ll help them any way I can. I’ve been on a few interviews and can offer some advice. We’ve got a lot of qualified people on this staff, so that wouldn’t shock me at all and I would be encouraged. We all have goals and I’m not in the business of stopping people from getting the things they want – players, coaches. That’s part of the reason why they’re here; but another part of the reason why they’re here is because they’re team-first and I think people will see that – hopefully people see that – and I would say that’s part of the reason why if someone were to want to interview our guys, that’d be part of it. That’s part of this business. If somebody comes calling for one of you guys, it’s the same thing. You’d hope that your boss would be encouraging and be helpful in that instance. I would think. I don’t know. Maybe I’m different than you.”
(I wanted to ask you, what makes Patriots WR Julian Edelman so dangerous and how does the game change when he’s on the field?) – “Julian (Edelman) is smart, instinctive, tough, good hands, good run after catch, understands the game offensively and in the kicking game and he’s got a few defensive snaps under his belt, too. He’s a very good player and I think just his toughness, his competitiveness; you feel that on the field.”
(How encouraged were you yesterday that you were able to get WR DeVante Parker and WR Jakeem Grant and I think G Ereck Flowers and LB Kyle Van Noy and LB Elandon Roberts back? A lot of these guys who have been dealing with something were able to practice yesterday. How encouraged were you by they came through it?) – ”I was encouraged. It was good to see all those guys out there working to get back as soon as they can. Encouraged, but not surprised. I think we’ve got a lot of guys who want to be out there, who want to be with their teammates, who want to help this team as best they can. We’ll see how it goes. We’ve still got a few days before kickoff. Hopefully we’ll get all those guys.”
(I wanted to ask about your defense is obviously from the same family of defenses as the Patriots scheme. How does that help QB Tua Tagovailoa and what are some things that he needs to do to fine-tune his preparation for that defense on Sunday?) – “I think just go through his normal routine and preparation – watching the film, doing a good job in meetings, doing a good job in walkthrough, doing a good job in practice, learning over the course of the week, getting more familiar with the things that they do and just try to execute. At the end of the day, that’s what it boils down to, and it’s not just Tua; it’s the o-line, the backs, the receivers, the tight ends. We’ve got to execute defensively, we’ve got to execute in the kicking game and try to put a total team effort together.”
