Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy saw something he liked in Dolphins coach Brian Flores last season.
Mainly, that’s because it looked so familiar to him.
Via Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post, Dungy said he was impressed with the resilience the Dolphins showed last year, winning five of their last nine (including beating the Patriots late) after an 0-7 start.
Considering the current landscape of minority hiring in the NFL, taking a chance on the former Patriots linebackers coach also made the Dolphins an outlier, and Dungy said Stephen Ross has offered a “blueprint” for other teams.
“I think they look for a leader,” Dungy said of the Dolphins. “They look for somebody from a winning organization who had leadership qualities, who can direct them for a long time, and Brian Flores reminds me a lot of myself. . . .
“I think it’s having convictions, having the belief in what you do and not letting other people talk you out of how you want to do things. And being steadfast and persevering even if the results aren’t there right away.”
Dungy pointed to the road upset of the Patriots as evidence Flores was on the right track. When he took over the Buccaneers, they started 1-8, but won five of their last seven.
“We were playing Washington,” Dungy said. “They were trying to get to the playoffs and we beat them. It was one of those games where for us it doesn’t matter, but I told the team, ‘This is going to set the tone for next year. How we’re going to play some games at the end of the year is how we’re going to approach this one.’ The next year, we had those games in December.
“For the Dolphins to win that game, when the Patriots needed it so much, it said a lot. And at the end of the year, it was a much different team than at the beginning of the year. And I think that’s what you’re looking for in the long run. And so I’m excited for the Dolphins. I’m excited for Brian.
“And I think it’s going to give kind of a blueprint to the league of what can happen when you think outside the box a little bit.”
Flores remains one of four minority coaches in the NFL, which doesn’t represent much progress from Dungy’s days. Perhaps if his career follows the same trajectory, those who hire coaches may begin to view their approaches differently.