Brian Flores met the media for the first time as the Dolphins head coach shortly after officially being hired on Monday afternoon.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross opened the press conference by congratulating Flores on winning the Super Bowl with the Patriots on Sunday and said “you feel good after you see something like that.” Ross reiterated his comments from last month about looking for a long-term leader of the team who would build a winning culture in Miami.
Flores said he was excited about the prospect of doing that after meeting with the Dolphins and that he told the team not to hire him if their “beliefs weren’t aligned” about the right way to do that. Ross’ comments about taking a long view have been interpreted by some as a view that the Dolphins won’t be particularly competitive in 2019.
Flores said he knows “there will be some pain” as he tries to build the team he wants the Dolphins to be, but noted that all teams experience pain as they work to win games. Flores started that process on Monday and the hope in Miami is that there’s a lot less pain than there’s been in recent years.