HCE
Active Roster
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2012
- Messages
- 86
- Reaction score
- 363
There's been a lot of focus on Tua in recent weeks, and while I was a big supporter of drafting him and have no doubt he'll be a great player, I just wanted to give some kudos to Brian Flores and the coaching staff now that we're actually in the playoff picture in year two of an empty cupboard rebuild. I was expecting improvement this year, but I wasn't expecing the team to make a playoff push until next year after another loaded draft class, so the turnaround has been exceptionally quick. Ideally I thought we could grow like the Cowboys of the 90s did under Jimmy Johnson, where they went from 1-15 to 7-9 to 11-5 (playoffs) and then 13-3 (SB win). Like us, they had a slew of draft picks and over those first years they drafted the foundation of a dynasty, including the core of Aikman, Smith and Irvin. We've got Tua, and I'm thinking we'll get him his top tier wide receiver next year.
Anyway, I'm not inside the Dolphins building, I don't have access to see what's going on in there, but my impression is that Flores is doing a great job building our defense and has surrounded himself with a lot of other good coaches as well. It struck me while browsing threads on this board and seeing comments about how this player was a great free agency pick-up or that player was a great find in the late rounds of the draft, that it's probably less to do with identifying overlooked talent or hidden gems, and more to do with good coaching and getting the most out of players.
I'm really excited and optimistic about our team's future, and it's got as much to do with Flores as it does Tua. I hope they both stick around for years and years and years. I think that's a partnership that can bring us championships (I saw a TV analyst make the point that the combination of a star quarterback and a defensive head coach has been a very successful combination over the years, the most recent example of Brady and Belichik having been a thorn in our side for the past two decades, so let's hope that trend continues).
Finally, check out this video if you haven't seen it already. Flores may come across as a bit of a "hard" guy some times, but as his uncle points out, that's the kind of persona you had to adopt when growing up in the kind of rough neighbourhood that Flores grew up in. He just seems like a really solid and likeable guy, and one that players will respect and want to play for.
Anyway, I'm not inside the Dolphins building, I don't have access to see what's going on in there, but my impression is that Flores is doing a great job building our defense and has surrounded himself with a lot of other good coaches as well. It struck me while browsing threads on this board and seeing comments about how this player was a great free agency pick-up or that player was a great find in the late rounds of the draft, that it's probably less to do with identifying overlooked talent or hidden gems, and more to do with good coaching and getting the most out of players.
I'm really excited and optimistic about our team's future, and it's got as much to do with Flores as it does Tua. I hope they both stick around for years and years and years. I think that's a partnership that can bring us championships (I saw a TV analyst make the point that the combination of a star quarterback and a defensive head coach has been a very successful combination over the years, the most recent example of Brady and Belichik having been a thorn in our side for the past two decades, so let's hope that trend continues).
Finally, check out this video if you haven't seen it already. Flores may come across as a bit of a "hard" guy some times, but as his uncle points out, that's the kind of persona you had to adopt when growing up in the kind of rough neighbourhood that Flores grew up in. He just seems like a really solid and likeable guy, and one that players will respect and want to play for.
