During his first press conference as Dolphins head coach on Monday, Brian Flores said that he told the Dolphins during his interview that they should not hire him if their beliefs were not aligned about how to build a team.
Given the hints the Dolphins have made about taking a step back in the near term in hopes of building the foundation for a consistent winner in South Florida, one of those beliefs would likely be that they’d stick with Flores and the larger plan through the rough times that come as part of that process. Flores said on Monday that he anticipates “some pain” will be involved and he reportedly signed a contract that reflects the time it may take to heal it.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Flores signed a five-year, guaranteed contract with the Dolphins. That’s in contrast with other coaches hired around the league this offseason who signed four-year deals with a team option for a fifth season.
Coaches often get fired with guaranteed money left on their deals, so there’s no guarantee that Flores is going to see the end of the deal even if the current view appears to be that it is going to take some time to get the Dolphins on track.