Members of the Bill Belichick coaching tree haven't had the greatest success with implementing "the Patriot Way" outside New England.
Brian Flores is the latest example. The ex-Patriots assistant was relieved of his duties as Miami Dolphins head coach on Monday, ending his three-year tenure with the organization. The move came as a surprise to many, including several players across the NFL.
That's because the Dolphins firing Flores reportedly didn't have anything to do with his coaching. Rather, it resulted from poor relationships with young quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and general manager Chris Grier.
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Here's who Jerod Mayo reportedly will compete against for Denver job
Was Flores' firing the latest cautionary tale for Patriots assistant coaches? Should prospective head coaches Josh McDaniels and Jerod Mayo take notice? Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry discuss on a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.
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"I've talked in the past to Josh McDaniels about this, but one of the main problems in Denver was when he went there, there were people in the front office who were kind of hold outs, who weren't sure if this young coach from the Patriots tree was going to be the right answer," Curran said. "If you don't have every single person with you in the organization and you don't find success, then those people are going to find ways to criticize you. There's a 'new broom sweeps clean, my way or the highway' approach that has been taken so often by (Matt) Patricia, or (Eric) Mangini, or Josh, down the line. ...
"That's the common denominator, I think. These guys come in and say 'new sheriff in town' and when the shit doesn't work, the sniping begins. Brian Flores is not a go along to get along guy."
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If Flores' dismissal indeed was based on strained relationships, Perry believes the move is a mistake for Miami.
"I get it, everybody has to have some sort of working relationship with the people they are spending their days with," Perry said. "I get it. You have to be a team player. But if it's 'I didn't like the way he treated me' -- I don't know the details, but it just sounds a little misguided.
"If that's the direction you choose to go is because the relationships aren't as lovey dovey as you were hoping they would be, it's not a smooth as you were hoping they would be, sometimes it's OK to not have smooth relationships with everybody in the building because it pushes people to be better."
Also discussed in this episode: What has happened to Mac Jones down the stretch? How much does the lack of offensive weapons hold Mac back? Is the "rookie wall" to blame? Belichick’s confidence in his team fixing its mistakes. And a 1-on-1 with Kyle Van Noy.
Check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or watch on YouTube.
