Five Takeaways from Flores/Grier Press Conference

Earlier today, Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and head coach Brian Flores met with the media for their end-of-the-season press conference. But despite Miami’s front office doing their best to keep things close to the chest, there were plenty of takeaways from this afternoon’s zoom meeting.

Here are five takeaways from Brian Flores and Chris Grier’s press conference.

Tua Tagovailoa is the Miami Dolphins starting Quarterback.

This shouldn’t need to be said, but with every national media outlet trying to spin a QB controversy in Miami, it needed to be.

chris grier on tua: "tua, very happy with. he's our starting QB. he did a nice job coming in as a rookie with no offseason and the challenges of all that. very happy with him."

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 5, 2021

grier on tua: "i think tua and our training staff worked very hard getting themselves ready, prepared. i thought tua did a great job of getting himself working through the whole process, and the training staff. and brian, for laying out a plan for bringing him along."

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 5, 2021

CHRIS GRIER: 'I ALSO WANT TO BE CLEAR, TUA IS OUR STARTER"

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 5, 2021

With a normal offseason and an improved arsenal of weapons, 2021 Tua should look a lot more like the guy we fell in love with at Tuscaloosa.

Tua is the franchise quarterback of the Miami Dolphins.

Chan Gailey expected back as offensive coordinator in 2021?

Coach Flores didn’t say much regarding his coaching staff in 2021, but what he did say was that he expected his assistant coaches to be back in 2021. This means 69-year-old Chan Gailey will once again be calling plays for Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins’ offense. This might have been the most disappointing takeaway from today’s presser.

Here’s what Flores had to say when asked if he’d retain his staff for the 2021 season.

“Yeah, we expect everyone back. Hopefully you’re not jinxing me now. Last time I said that, we lost Karl Dorrell, we lost Pat Graham, so thanks. (laughter) Hopefully not, though. We expect everyone back.”

There’s an outside chance Gailey might still retire. But for now, it looks like Gailey will be Miami’s play-caller moving forward.

Brian Flores should be Coach of the Year, in Chris Grier’s opinion.

There are plenty of deserving NFL head coaches that could be nominated for Coach of the Year. However, if you ask GM Chris Grier, he will tell you no one is more deserving than Dolphins’ HC Brian Flores–and I agree. Yes, the Week 17 loss to Buffalo should leave a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.

Flores deserves to be the coach of the year, with or without playoffs.

chris grier on brian flores: "brian will hate me saying it but to me, brian is the COTY..for what he did with this roster to go through the pandemic, the young players . with no offseason and completely new roster to win 10 games…brian and his staff did an outstanding job."

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 5, 2021

Dolphins plan to add competition at all positions in the offseason.

Miami has a lot of options via free agency and the draft. For example, the team has 4 top-50 picks, and their ‘available balance’ in FA rivals what we saw last year. So with a large number of running backs and wide receivers hitting the market, Miami’s interest could be key. But As you would expect, Flores and Grier never speak in absolutes, but they did shed some light on the offensive line and receiving corps–two positions the Dolphins could address at No.3 overall.

grier on adding a WR: "competition makes everyone better. and we always talk about upgrading the roster in all areas. there's places we want to upgrade on all sides of the ball. getting playmakers is what all great teams have. we'll continue to address the issue on both sides"

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 5, 2021

flores on the o-line: "i think that group made a lot of improvements. obviously, we played a lot of young guys there, we made some improvements, but these next 4-6 weeks…we're going to evaluate EVERYTHING…we just try to get a vision of what we want the '21 team to be."

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 5, 2021

The best is yet to come

10 wins is a great accomplishment for a team in year two of a rebuild. But make no mistake about it, that loss to Buffalo left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. And what this team does in the offseason to build around the young nucleus in place could be what ultimately decides whether or not the Dolphins take the next step from promising young team to legit-playoff contenders.

Coach Flores promised to leave no stone unturned.

brian flores: "we won't leave no stone unturned to bring results to this fanbase and the people in this organization."

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 5, 2021

Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker said it best.

jerome baker: "yes, definitely. 2021 is our year."

— josh houtz (@houtz) January 4, 2021