Patriots: Doesn’t Brian Flores get that it’s impossible to copy Bill Belichick?
By Jerry Trotta
The New England Patriots are more than accustomed to teams around the league trying to impersonate their roster and culture-building philosophy. When you win an unprecedented six championships over a two-decade span, that’s bound to happen at some point.
Most of those teams have head coaches who formerly served under Bill Belichick. Look no further than Mike Vrabel and the Titans, who’ve really done their best to mimic the Patriots’ blueprint over the last few years with signings like Dion Lewis, Logan Ryan, and Malcolm Butler.
Well, it would appear that the Miami Dolphins and head coach Brian Flores are ready to supplant Tennessee as the new wannabe Patriots. If you look at some of their most notable signings, almost all of them have ties to New England.
We’ll delve more into that later on, but Miami’s latest activity on the free agent front further confirms their concerted efforts to mirror Belichick and the Patriots, and that Flores has yet to learn his lesson that doing so is impossible.
Per ESPN insider Field Yates, the Dolphins will host defensive tackle Lawrence Guy for a visit this week after he spent the last four seasons with the Patriots.
The Dolphins are hosting DT Lawrence Guy on a free agent visit. He’s done a ton of dirty work for the Patriots over the past four years, earning a spot on the team’s All-Decade. Underrated player.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 22, 2021
Former Patriots assistant Brian Flores is clearly trying to emulate Bill Belichick with the Dolphins.
Flores and the Dolphins have already signed a former Patriots defensive lineman this offseason when they inked Adam Butler to a two-year contract. Ironically enough, New England returned the favor when it signed former Dolphins lineman Davon Godchaux as Butler’s replacement, but that’s neither here nor there.
Looking at the rest of Miami’s roster, it’s actually littered with former Patriots, including safety Eric Rowe, cornerback Justin Coleman, quarterback Jacoby Brissett and linebacker Calvin Munson. That list would be even longer had the Pats not re-signed the likes of Ted Karras and Kyle Van Noy, the latter of whom was famously released one-year into the four-year deal he signed last offseason.
Let it be known that we have great respect for Flores, who was an excellent defensive assistant for the Patriots and is clearly building something special with Miami despite being hired as head coach just two years ago. As weird as it sounds, it actually helps us sleep better at night knowing that a Belichick disciple is responsible for the Dolphins’ long overdue turnaround.
There’s also something to be said about familiarity, and Flores signing players who were with him in Foxborough will only make it easier for the rest of Miami’s roster to buy into his culture. However, sooner or later, the 40-year-old HC is going to have to learn that Belichick is in a class of his own and trying to copy the Patriots legend will only come back to bite him down the road.
