How Brian Flores stacks up to John Elway’s checklist

As the Broncos embark on their search for the next head coach, they will interview five different candidates for the job. On the day of each interview, we will grade that candidate based on the qualities John Elway is looking for. These are the interviews that have already taken place.

Wednesday: Chuck Pagano

Thursday: Zac Taylor

Friday: Mike Munchak

Saturday: Brian Flores

BRIAN FLORES

OVERVIEW

This will make Broncos fans squeamish.

Brian Flores is Mr. Patriot. His blood type is BB, as in Bill Belichick. His home address is 1 Patriot Pl, aka Gillette Stadium. The only food he eats is Kraft brand.

Okay, that may have gone a bit too far, but the point holds true, Brian Flores knows one team and one team only, the New England Patriots.

Immediately after playing football at Boston College as a linebacker, Flores stayed in the area joining the Patriots as a scouting assistant in 2004.

Two years later, Flores was promoted to pro scout before jumping into coaching in 2008 as a special teams assistant.

In 2010, Flores widened his horizons, becoming an offensive assistant/special teams coach before jumping to the other side of the ball in 2011 as a defensive assistant.

The next year, Flores became the head man of one group for the first time in his coaching career, being named safeties coach. He held that role until 2016 when he switched to linebackers coach.

After Matt Patricia left New England last offseason, Flores became the de facto defensive coordinator as the team’s top defensive assistant and play caller, although he still officially retained the title of linebackers coach.

The 37-year old is one of the hottest young coaching candidates on the market, having multiple interviews lined up during the Patriots’ clockwork first-round bye.

EVALUATION

John Elway identified four traits he is looking for in his next head coach. Here is how Flores stacks up.

Greatness in their expertise: B

With the Patriots, it’s always difficult to tell exactly how much credit should be dished out to people not named Bill Belichick or Tom Brady. Heck, even between those two, it’s tough to tell exactly how much credit should be given to each of them, respectively.

But Flores did an admirable job calling plays for the Patriots in 2018, gaining Belichick’s trust enough to open up the playbook more than they have in recent years.

New England finished as a top-third defense in nearly every category despite just having one pro bowler, Stephon Gilmore, on his side of the ball.

Experience: B-

When Elway said he was looking for experience from his next head coach, he said he was looking at body of work, not necessarily head coaching experience.

Flores aces that test when it comes to understanding The Patriot Way, but with only 11 years of total coaching experience under his belt — with only one as a de facto coordinator — he doesn’t hit this one out of the park.

However, where he greatly benefits is that he’s coached all three components of the game along with his experience in the personnel department as a scout.

While he has the second-fewest years of experience of the five coaches the Broncos are interviewing, he has the widest reach of experience of any of them.

Ability to lead men: ?

It’s believed Elway is intrigued by Flores’ tough-love coaching style.

And Flores embraces it.

“[Leadership is] about being tough on people, having high expectations, having a high standard and not letting off that standard,” Flores said during New England’s bye week. “I think you can do that specifically with players — you can be tough on them, expect a lot from them, but not be somebody they despise.”

“That’s part of my leadership style. It’s a combination of building trust and building that connection so you can be tough and they know it’s out of love.”

Once Flores leaves New England, which will happen eventually, it’s completely unknown how his leadership abilities will translate to a new organization.

So far, however, the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.

“I love playing for Coach Flores,” Jason McCourty stated.

The “it” factor: A?

Flores’ rise through the coaching ranks happened unbelievably quick — nearly overnight in NFL coaching standards.

In Belichick’s eyes, there’s no doubt Flores has the “it” factor.

The fact that he’s one of the hottest coaching candidates on the market would also significantly point to him possessing this unquantifiable trait.

In Super Bowl XLIX, it was Flores who sent Malcolm Butler on the field right before Butler picked off Russell Wilson for the Super-Bowl winning interception. That may not be the “it” factor in some people’s book, but it clearly turned out to be one of the best calls in NFL history.