A year ago, it wouldn’t have been necessary to report that an assistant coach reportedly pegged to become another team’s head coach would follow through with it. The world changed after Josh McDaniels didn’t.
This year, another Patriots assistant coach reportedly will become another team’s head coach when New England’s season ends. And it’s now being reported that the reported move will indeed happen.
Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post reports that a “zero point percent zero” chance exists that New England linebackers coach Brian Flores will tell the Dolphins “thanks but no thanks” after this Sunday or two Sundays later.
The article focuses on the fact that Flores wants the job and will take the job, contrasting him with McDaniels and, before that, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who used his supposed introductory press conference as head coach of the Jets to quit the job.
But there’s another side to this story that can’t completely be overlooked, especially if past performance is being used to potentially predict future behavior. Regardless of whether Flores fully intends to leave the Patriots and sign a contract with the Dolphins, the Dolphins have the same ability that Flores does to walk away.
Would Dolphins owner Stephen Ross do that? Considering that Ross once pursued then-Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh for employment without first firing Tony Sparano, telling Flores that an unofficial, incomplete arrangement will remain that way occupies a much lower spot on the antisocial behavior meter.
And with Jim’s brother John still not signed to an extension in Baltimore, all it takes is one phone call from Ross to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti (or vice-versa) to ignite (or reignite) talks aimed at making John Harbaugh the next coach of the Dolphins.