Brian Flores – October 24, 2019 (Conference Call)
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Thursday, October 24, 2019
Head Coach Brian Flores Conference Call with Pittsburgh Media
(It looks like it’s been a lot more competitive the last couple of weeks since you guys came out of the bye. What’s been the key to that?) – “I think guys are just starting to gel. We had a lot of movement early in the season, a lot of new players. I would say the first three or four games of the season, we were in almost like training camp in a lot of ways where guys are trying to get to know each other. We had the bye week. We tried to put some things in order. I think we’re just starting to come together as a team and we just played a little bit better the last couple weeks. We’ve still got a long way to go. That’s very clear and evident.”
(What has QB Ryan Fitzpatrick given you since you made the move to him?) – “He’s given us what he’s really always given us. This guy has experience, leadership. He’s got great rapport with his teammates. I think he gives us the best chance to compete.”
(You’re obviously a first-year head coach in this league and Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin is one of the longest-tenured. Just how much have you followed his career and what are your impressions of what he’s done with Pittsburgh from the outside?) – “I think he’s done a great job. He’s one of the top coaches in the league. His teams are tough and they’re smart and they’re disciplined. They play with a freedom and a toughness that I’ve always admired from afar. I think they embody a lot of the things that – they play like their coach. In coaching, that’s what you kind of want. You want your team to reflect who you are, and his teams are tough, disciplined and they work hard and they don’t make excuses. He does a great job.”
(With Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick, what do you see on tape from watching in Pittsburgh versus what you guys were trying to do? Is Pittsburgh using him any differently? Has his role been asked to change at all from your viewpoint?) – “Minkah is a very versatile player. He can play multiple positions. It looks like they’re doing that with him in the deep part of the field, in the box, man coverage. He does a good job tackling. I think he’s done a good job. They’ve got a good defense over there – a good offense, good defense, good special teams. When I watch it, I’m watching Minkah, but I’m watching Minkah to (Terrell) Edmunds to (Joe) Haden to (Bud) Dupree to obviously T.J. Watt and (Cameron) Heyward and Devin Bush is playing great and (Mark) Barron. They’ve got a lot of good players there. Minkah is just another piece…”
(I’m sorry to cut you off. Were you not surprised to see S Minkah Fitzpatrick sort of come in and make an instant impact?) – “No, not at all. I think he’s a really good player. He’s a young player, and I think he’s smart, he’s hard-working (and) football is important to him. I’m not surprised that he’s doing a good job there.”
(How challenging is it when you’re trying to set a foundation your first year and you’ve got a player in S Minkah Fitzpatrick that comes out and says he wants to be traded?) – “I think it’s something that it happened and we’ve moved on. As a team, we’ve worked on ourselves and building and improving on a day-to-day basis and that’s really where the focus is. I think if you start to think about anything other than that or this happened or why this happened or why that happened – we need to put our energy in other places.”
(In your years in New England, you guys had a lot of success often against the Steelers. Has it been a challenge for you to start over new somewhere where you have to motivate maybe more and get a team that has had a lot of early struggles like you have in Miami so far?) – “I mean it’s – I love coming to work every day. I think it’s a challenge. It’s exciting. I love coaching and I love the challenges of coaching. It’s really – every day I come in here and this group of guys work hard and want to get better and improve. I’m fortunate to be around a group of guys who want to do that, so I’ll keep coaching them. Hopefully they keep getting better and improving.”
(Were you guys aware as a staff or was the team aware that there would be so much turnover coming right at the start there?) – “Every year is different. I think there’s turnover on every team every year. That’s the case. That’s the National Football League. In some years, there’s more than others. You deal with it as a team, as an organization and I’m going to coach the guys who are here. I’m going to coach them hard and try to get the most out of them. It’s my job and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”
(The Steelers offensive line is ranked at the top of the league in terms of fewest sacks allowed. What makes that unit so good other than just being experienced and obviously this year as healthy as any line in the league?) – “I think experience is part of it. When I think of experience, I think you’ve got guys there who have played together for a long, long time. They know the strengths and weaknesses of the guy next to them. I’m sure, or it looks like, they don’t even have to make a call in (certain) situations or even communicate. They can almost communicate without saying anything. I’ve been around teams where you’re able to do that, and that’s – it takes a while to get to that point, but when you do, it’s a beautiful thing, to be honest with you. It takes time. The experience, I don’t want to take that – let’s not take that for granted. That’s a key ingredient to their success and they’ve done a good job with that, so it’s going to be a tough test for us. They’ve got a really good line.”
(Your team seemed pretty competitive/aggressive against Buffalo. Are you satisfied with their ability to rise through the tough streak here and keep competing?) – “Yeah. These guys compete. They have a lot of pride. We’re just going to keep playing, keep improving, just keep getting better and no, I’m not surprised. We’ve got a good group here. They work hard, and it’s important to them, so no, I’m not surprised at all.”
(Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin – to go back to him for a second – he was outspoken this offseason about being disappointed in the lack of minority hires in the hiring process. Is he a guy that’s reached out to you or vice versa sort of about just the challenges that you guys have faced in this league?) – “I’ve talked to (Steelers Head Coach) Mike (Tomlin) at the owners meetings, at the Combine and on the field a couple times in recent years. He’s someone I have a lot of respect for. I call him a mentor in a lot of ways in (him) having had as much experience as he’s had. In my process, he was not one of the people I reached out to; but I’m sure if I did, he would’ve had a wealth of knowledge for me to help me out with (the process). I have a lot of respect for him; but no, during my process he wasn’t somebody I talked to.”
