Brian Flores has been following the Giants since the Dolphins fired him. And the Giants love him back.
Sources tell the Daily News that members of the Giants organization contacted several members of the Dolphins’ support staff and assistant coaches to conduct due diligence on Flores ahead of his scheduled interview in East Rutherford Thursday.
And they received encouraging and rave reviews in return.
The Giants aren’t shy about admitting they did some meaningful work on Flores.
They call all the candidates, but this homework during Flores’ time in Miami reflects a particularly thorough process for him, reinforces the Giants’ serious interest, and indicates that the feedback is positive.
This is important because there was a lot of negative buzz about how Flores’ tenure in Miami ended, although sources say the coach’s main sticking point in the organization was centered on the need to improve the quarterback.
It’s hard to blame Flores for wanting more after seeing a superb performance from the Bills’ Josh Allen and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes last Sunday.
Whether the Giants can quench Flores’ thirst for an elite quarterback is a fair question. But even if they give Daniel Jones another year to shine, at least the Giants have a new general manager in Joe Sean, who knows what a great quarterback looks like after helping Allen get to the Bills in 2018.
Flores excelled in Miami, going 24-25 overall but 19-14 in the last two years after struggling with a tank try in 2019. He has won eight of his last nine games.
Sean’s fellow Bills, Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daball, still appears to be the Giants’ leader after a second interview on Tuesday that appears to have gone well.
Giants defensive coordinator Pat Graham is expected to be interviewed today. Flores travels Thursday, and Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Fraser also gave a second in-person interview Friday in East Rutherford.
Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo won’t be able to give a second interview until after the AFC Championship game on Sunday, so it’s unclear if that interview will take place.
The Giants have already shown a lot of interest in Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who personally interviewed on Monday. They had contacted him prior to Sean being hired to make sure he was aware of their interest, and their defense coordinator’s request for an interview with Quinn’s Dallas colleague Joe Witt Jr. also reflected their work on Quinn.
But Giants co-owner John Mara also made sure to reach out to people close to Flores last week, in an important move by the Giants president and CEO to express interest specifically in the unexpectedly available Miami coach.
And since then, the Giants’ behind-the-scenes work has shown that Thursday’s interview puts Flores in the game to compete for the job.
