Chris Grier and Brian Flores – April 25, 2020
Saturday, April 25, 2020
General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Brian Flores
Brian Flores:
(Opening statement) – “I just wanted to quickly just say a few words and really say thank you to the doctors, to the nurses, to the first responders, to the essential workers during this pandemic. I think the job they’ve done has been incredible. I think they’re the real heroes. This pandemic has hit close to home for me. I’ve actually lost two mentors that – they were mentors to me in New York, so I just kind of wanted to show a picture of them. That’s Mike Hankins. He’s a mentor to a lot of kids in Brooklyn. Obviously in this picture he’s a referee, but he was also a father figure to many. His son, Mike Hankins Jr. is a good friend. We lost him a few weeks ago to COVID-19. The next guy is Myles Coker. Myles and I were – I’m very, very close with his sons, Cliff and Kelvin, so that was a tough loss for them and obviously a tough loss for me. They’ve got an incredible family – Cliff, Kelvin, their mom Deborah – and I just wanted to send my thoughts and prayers out to Mike and his family – Cliff, Kelvin, Deborah and their family. I just implore everyone to stay safe, stay healthy – and stay healthy. It’s important. Thank you.”
Chris Grier:
(I wanted to ask you your thoughts on the trade for RB Matt Breida. Were you at all getting nervous as you saw so many running backs coming off the board and how do you see the tandem of Matt and RB Jordan Howard working out?) – “From our end, ‘nervous?’ No. Brian (Flores) and I and the scouts and the coaches, we had a plan for how we wanted to approach this draft. The one thing we do is we always look at options. Brian and the scouts do a good job of probing and trying to figure out ways to improve the roster, so the opportunity was there. As we worked through – even through these last few days and looking through stuff. For us, there was no panic on anything. It was just we stayed with our process and we feel good about the draft today. Brian can talk about the football side of it. (laughter)”
Brian Flores:
“I wanted to say Chris (Grier) and the scouting staff – there’s a lot of brainstorming that goes on about doing some things outside the box, and this was an example of that – this trade. As far as Matt (Breida) the player, this is a very explosive, young running back with good vision and can create a lot of big plays. But he’s also tough, he’s also smart, he also has a lot of the qualities that we’re looking for in our players. It was an exciting phone call to have with him and can’t want to get him out here.”
Chris Grier:
(You had 11 draft picks, you’ve signed 10 free agents, you brought in the veteran running back – a lot of fans are going to see all this talent coming the Dolphins’ way and will have sky-high expectations. Is that good? Is that right? What would you say to these fans?) – “For us – and Brian has always talked about it – it’s one day at a time. It’s building a process of building this team to get better every day. Expectations, people will have that and good or bad, and for us it’s just staying the course and doing a lot of the things that the coaching staff really believes and implements with the team.”
Brian Flores:
“Games aren’t won in March and April. I think there’s a lot of work that has to be done from now until the start of the season whether it’s virtual meetings to hopefully getting back together, getting on the field and getting 90 guys on the same page, 11 guys on the same page. It’s a team of teams, so the nickel group’s got to get on the same page. The dime group’s got to get on the same page. The 21-personnel offense has got to get on the same page and the 11-personnel’s got to get on the same page. There’s a lot that goes into it, so we’ve got a long, long way to go – a long, long way to go. I think it starts with the virtual meetings and then when the time comes when we come together and get to practice and get to walkthrough. A lot of hard work has to be done first to become a good team. It’s not easy, so I would say as far as expectations, let’s manage them and there’s a lot of work we have to do, and obviously we’re going to push the team to do that but the work has to be done by the players and coaches, the personnel staff. It’s going to be a collective team effort.”
Chris Grier:
(I wanted to ask you guys, today you added another offensive lineman. It seems like you guys are trying to find that big mauler mentality. Is that fair to say that’s what you want your o-line to be and are any of those offensive linemen closer to some ready to play than others?) – “I think as we sit down and we talk about stuff, we’re just looking for good football players. At the end of the day, we had the criteria of what we’re looking for, but they’ve got to be good players – smart, tough, competitive – all the things we talk about. At the end of the day, when they get on the field and how they do their classrooms and stuff, that will set whatever goals they reach from Year 1 going forward. I think from our perspective, it’s you have to go out every day, improve and get better each day like Coach (Flores) always talks about.”
Brian Flores:
“We want guys who compete. I think that’s going to – we’re trying to create a competitive environment and get as many guys in here to compete. We feel like when there’s competition, people get better. It really doesn’t matter what area of life it is. When there’s a little bit of competition, guys reach their maximum potential. These are competitive guys. That’s part of the criteria Chris (Grier) just talked about. Hopefully we can get them here and get started pretty soon.”
(What was it about G Solomon Kindley that appealed to you? I think there was a video shown of you, Brian, kind of blocking the air when his selection was made. What was it about his play or maybe what you heard about him that encouraged you get him?) – “I think there was a fly in my office. I don’t know if I was blocking the air. (laughter) Solomon, he’s a fun-loving kid. He’s full of energy, full of enthusiasm, loves to play the game and he’s a physical guy. To me ,I would say that’s the one thing that stands out. He’s a physical kid. He plays the game physically and looks like he enjoys (the game). When you watch him play, you get the feeling that he enjoys the physical part of the game. I’m sure he’s a – he better be a much better blocker than I am on air or wherever it is. (laughter) There’s a lot to like about him.”
(Fans have been able to see you celebrating with Miles and Maxwell in your office after some of the draft picks. What has this experience been like for you to share the draft with your sons and what do you think about fans seeing this side of you with your kids?) – “Well before I – I need to say thank you to my wife for dealing with having me home all the time. It’s definitely been an adjustment, but it’s been fun. It’s been a lot of fun, actually. I haven’t spent this much time with my family – my kids, my wife – in a long time and it’s been great to sit down and eat dinner, to help my kids with their homework. (laughter) I don’t know if anybody’s done some math, but that’s very interesting – not carrying the 1, not carrying numbers is very interesting to me. (laughter) But it’s been fun and it’s been a great experience, and having them spend time with me during the draft was a great experience. I’ve been able to (tell them), ‘if you don’t take a nap, you’re not going to get to the draft,’ so it’s been a lot of fun. It’s great to see it across the league. Families together, I think that’s just, it’s so important. When I think about being a coach, you want to help players become good players but good people, good husbands, good fathers, good sons; and I think we, as coaches, need to be good examples of that and hopefully the players saw that and hopefully the world saw that. I think that was evident. It was nice to see everyone’s families.”
(Can you talk about these two mentors? At what point in your life did you know them and is there anything that jumps out as far as a story about them or some impact that they had on you?) – “I’m not going to dive too far into either one. But Mike Hankins, he was just a figure in Brooklyn around my neighborhood as someone who was constantly trying to help other people succeed. It was a tough area, a place where you can go a lot of different ways and you can go down the wrong path. At every opportunity, he was someone who tried to help young people as much as he could. I was lucky to spend some time with him and his. He was a referee at games and whether it was football or basketball, he just enjoyed sports so much and it gave him so much joy. He just loved being around young people and helping them become better – better version of themselves. Myles Coker, I would say I spent more time with him. He’s got quite a story. It’s an incredible journey. His life has been an incredible journey. His sons – Cliff and Kelvin – I would say are two of my best friends in the world. For them to go through that adversity, I felt it myself. Myles was full of wisdom, I would say. Full of wisdom. He was someone you could seek out for counsel whenever you were going through something; but he had a joy and spirit about him that was also incredible. He had a smile that would light up a room and he was full of jokes, and his sons were the same way. It was a loss for everyone, but if you spent time with either guy – Mike Hankins or Myles Coker – I feel like I was better for it, certainly.”
Chris Grier:
(You talk about the experience of spending time with the family. How was the experience of running a draft in 50 different places? Was there a moment where there were technical glitches? We as consumers loved watching it. We loved the access that we got. Would it be something that you would be okay with doing again?) – “Our IT department did a fantastic job. Those guys were on the ball. The video department, everybody. It was smooth. They allowed us to have everything we needed. Anything we wanted it was set up. It couldn’t have happened without them. As far as doing it again, we will do whatever the league says. We’ll be ready to react. I love my wife too, like Brian. My kids are older. What’s Option B, would be mine. (laughter)”
Brian Flores:
“Yes, like Chris said, our IT department was really on point. If there were any glitches, they were very minor and I must have missed them. Things ran pretty smooth on our end, so they did a wonderful job. Again, it was great. I had a great experience this year. You go into it, you never know what it’s going to be like. I think there is a lot of apprehension or uncertainty about how things will go, but I thought it was great. Again, I thought it was great to see all of the families together. I thought that was really nice.”
Chris Grier:
(You guys have made a lot of moves this offseason via draft, via free agent signings, via trades. What are the one or two most important areas that you addressed?) – “I’d say everything, and that the great thing about Brian and the staff, and the coaches and these scouts is everything was done with a calculated plan and what we were looking to achieve in terms of roster building and looking long-term, as well. For me, we always talk about building blocks and I thought we did a great job of accomplishing that and hitting some areas of need.”
Brian Flores:
“Yes. I would agree with Chris. Every area counts. That’s something we talk about on a daily basis. Everything we do counts. Every evaluation, every measurement, everything we do from a personnel standpoint counts. I think Chris and the scouting staff did a great job. I think we tried to improve the team in every area. There wasn’t an area we felt like, ‘we’re good at this spot.’ No. It was ‘how can we get whatever we feel we’re good at better?’ That’s been something that’s been good and we’ll try to continue that.”
Chris Grier:
(I’m always curious at the end of the draft, how the board fell compared to your expectations and if you feel like you had good luck or not so good luck at times?) – “The board fell pretty much like we thought. We felt pretty good about things. You always have one or two things there where a team jumps up or we’d jump up. We had a couple moments there where we had a few smiles and laughs and we had a couple of table slams here and there. It went good and we got the players that we liked on the board at the end of the draft. It was good and the coaches and scouts, everyone did a good job.”
Brian Flores:
“There were definitely some moments, definitely some moments. You guys will never know about them but there were definitely some moments. I think that that is part of – there are some moments in every draft where something just doesn’t shake the right way. It’s never perfect, nothing ever is. But I think we worked together as an entire staff well and worked through those ebbs and flows of the draft. All and all, I think it was a good weekend ”
Chris Grier:
(With the two pass rushers that you added, DE Curtis Weaver, and DE Jason Strowbridge, what did you see in them that made them an ideal fit for this scheme?) – “First from the scouting perspective, in doing it and working it, we got to know the kids and they are good kids. They are competitive kids. They are productive players. You look at that. At the end of the day, it’s the toughness, the competitiveness, the smarts, the work ethic, how they fit in and so for us, it’s value for where we picked them. We thought they were good picks for us. We are excited to see what they can do. They have to come in and work and earn their spot like everyone else, but I thought it was good value.”
Brian Flores:
“Yes, Strowbridge is an outside, inside player. He lines up outside in some situations, inside in some other situations. Good strength, good quickness. There’s a lot to like about him. He played multiple positions, (is) versatile, tough. Weaver is a good pass rusher, or showed that over the course of his college career. Hopefully that translates. I think he has got to do a better job in a lot of areas, but so does Strowbridge and so does every one of these rookies. They all have to improve, they all have a long way to go. There’s definitely some things that we really liked out of Weaver from a pass rush standpoint. Hopefully we continue to develop those as well as every other part of his game. We like both guys. We like most of the guys we picked.”
