Signs are pointing that the Patriots next defensive coordinator will be Brian Flores.
Signs are pointing that the Patriots next defensive coordinator will be Brian Flores.
On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman reported that Greg Schiano will not being joining the Patriots organization and will instead remain at Ohio State where he is the defensive coordinator. The news comes after there were rumors and a (untrue) report that Schiano was headed to the Patriots to replace Matt Patricia, who became the head coach of the Detroit Lions.
The Schiano rumors made some sense, but it was thought if he joined it’d be in another capacity in the organization. He’s been a friend of Bill Belichick and coached several current Patriots during his tenure as the Rutgers head coach. It was, however, a little curious when a website, footballscoop.com, reported that Schiano was heading to the Patriots and bringing Minnesota defensive coordinator Robb Smith with him to Foxboro. Smith later tweeted that he was staying at Minnesota.
Flores has always seemed like the logical choice to replace McDaniels. Whether Flores earns the title right away or not is another question. (Patricia called defensive plays before being officially given the title.)
Flores has been in the organization since 2004 and the defensive players have a ton of respect for the 36-year-old rising coach. Two weeks ago, Albert Breer of SI’s TheMMQB.com, tweeted that the Patriots blocked Flores from interviewing last year with the San Francisco 49ers about their defensive coordinator opening. Considering they blocked Flores, their linebacker coach, from a potential promotion makes it seem like they had big plans for him in the future.
The Patriots also almost lost Flores this season. He was a reported finalist for the Arizona Cardinals head-coaching job. That ended up going to Steve Wilks. During Super Bowl Opening Night in Minnesota, Flores said the interview process was flattering.
“You work so hard for so long,” Flores said. “This is my 14th year here. I’ve put in a lot of hours. A lot of time. Worked on my craft. A lot of people would say they are infinitely a great coach, I wasn’t. I had to work at this. I’ve gotten better year after year after year. Still, I don’t have all the answers now. Still trying to improve and get better. That’s kind of been the hallmark of me as a coach and what kind of coach I want to be… All the work I put in kind of got me to this point. I’ll continue to do that and we’ll see where it all ends up.”
With Schiano reportedly staying at Ohio State, it certainly looks like Flores ends up as the next Patriots defensive coordinator.
— Mark Daniels writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.