Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (right) celebrate at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Photo / AP
Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (right) celebrate at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Photo / AP
When Brian Flores was asked how he celebrated winning the Super Bowl, he paused for several seconds and laughed.
"I kissed my wife on the field," Flores said.
Then it was on to the next challenge, and a big one — fixing the Miami Dolphins. Flores, the New England Patriots'linebackers coach and defensive play-caller, was hired yesterday as Miami's head coach.
He accepted the job hours after helping the Patriots shut down the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams for a 13-3 victory in the title game on Monday in Atlanta.
"Looking at this crowd here, you'd think we won the Super Bowl," Miami owner Stephen Ross said. "I've never seen this many people in this room. To me, you start an organisation by signing a great leader. I believe we've found that leader."
Flores was the first person the Dolphins interviewed after they fired coach Adam Gase in December. They decided on January 11 to offer the job to Flores but had to wait until New England's season ended to complete an agreement.
"I wasn't in a rush to become a head coach," said Flores, 37. "I had a good job in New England."
Flores said the job with the Patriots' longtime AFC East foil was appealing because he shared a vision with general manager Chris Grier on how to build a winner. While preparing for the Super Bowl, Flores also began to hire a Miami staff. The group is expected to include former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell as assistant head coach, Patriots receivers coach Chad O'Shea as offensive co-ordinator and Packers assistant Patrick Graham as defensive co-ordinator.
The son of Honduran immigrants, Flores grew up in Brooklyn and has spent his entire coaching career with the Patriots. He joined them in 2004 and became their de facto defensive co-ordinator a year ago after Matt Patricia left to join the Lions as their head coach.
Flores is the ninth former assistant to Bill Belichick to become a head coach.
"I think he'll be awesome," Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty said. "But he's in the division, so I told him he can't win too many games."
Flores becomes the NFL's fourth minority head coach for 2019, which is half the total of last season.
Flores also coached offense and special teams with New England. He has a long relationship with Grier, who took charge of football operations in the recent organisational shake-up.
The new Miami Dolphin's head coach Brian Flores, left, poses for a portrait with his family.
Flores is leaving a team that won its sixth Super Bowl since 2002 to join a franchise that has not won a playoff game since 2000 and plans to rebuild after another dismal season. The Dolphins went 7-9 in 2018 to miss the playoffs for the 15th time in 17 years.
Pats not ratings winners
The New England Patriots' competitive but action-starved NFL Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams was seen by 100.7 million people on television and streaming services, the smallest audience for football's annual spectacle in a decade.
A boycott by disgruntled New Orleans Saints fans, a campaign by fans of quarterback Colin Kaepernick and a game with only one touchdown combined to shrink the audience. On CBS alone, the game was seen by 98.2 million people, compared to 103.4 million who watched on NBC last year, according to the Nielsen ratings company.
Since reaching a peak of 114.4 million viewers for the Patriots' 2015 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the Super Bowl audience has slipped each year since. The Super Bowl is traditionally the most-watched television event of the year in the US, and its audience hadn't dipped below 100 million since the Pittsburgh Steelers-Arizona Cardinals game in 2009.
