DAVIE Jason Sanders Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Wthe Super Bowl, he paused for several seconds and laughed."I kissed my wife on the field," Flores said.Then it was on to the next challenge, and a big one — fixing the Miami Dolphins. Flores, the New England Patriots‘ linebackers coach and defensive play-caller, was hired Monday as Miami's head coach. He accepted the job hours after helping the Patriots shut down the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams for a 13-3 victory in the title game Sunday night in Atlanta."It has been a whirlwind 24 hours," Flores said with a smile at a news conference that drew two dozen cameras."Looking at this crowd here, you'd think we won the Super Bowl," Miami owner Stephen Ross said. "I've never seen this many people in this room. … To me, you start an organization by signing a great leader. I believe we've found that leader."Flores was the first person the Dolphins interviewed after they fired coach Adam Gase on Dec. 31. They decided on Jan. 11 to offer the job to Flores but had to wait until New England's season ended to complete an agreement."I wasn't in a rush to become a head coach," said Flores, 37. "I had a good job in New England."Flores said the job with the Patriots' longtime AFC East foil was appealing because he shared a vision with general manager Chris Grier on how to build a winner.While preparing for the Super Bowl, Flores also began to hire a Miami staff. The group is expected to include former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell as assistant head coach, Patriots receivers coach Chad O'Shea as offensive coordinator and Packers assistant Patrick Graham as defensive coordinator.The son of Honduran immigrants, Flores grew up in Brooklyn and has spent his entire coaching career with the Patriots. He joined them in 2004 and became their de facto defensive coordinator a year ago after Matt Patricia left to join the Lions as their head coach.Flores is the ninth former assistant to Bill Belichick to become a head coach."I think he'll be awesome," Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty said. "But he's in the division, so I told him he can't win too many games."Flores becomes the NFL's fourth minority head coach for 2019, which is half the total of last season. Diversity advocates have questioned the effectiveness of the Rooney Rule requiring teams to interview at least one minority candidate for any head coach or general manager vacancy.A former Boston College linebacker Raekwon McMillan Jersey , Flores also coached offense and special teams with New England. He has a long relationship with Grier, who took charge of football operations in the recent organizational shake-up.Both started as scouts for the Patriots, the Dolphins' longtime nemeses in the AFC East. Flores will report to Grier under the team's new, more streamlined leadership structure.Among those attending the news conference were Flores' wife, Jennifer, their three children and his high school coach. Also on hand was the last quarterback to lead Miami to a Super Bowl, Dan Marino, in 1984, and the last quarterback to help the Dolphins win one, Bob Griese, in 1973.Flores is leaving a team that won its sixth Super Bowl since 2002 to join a franchise that has not won a playoff game since 2000 and plans to rebuild after another dismal season.The Dolphins went 7-9 in 2018 to miss the playoffs for the 15th time in 17 years. They allowed 6,257 yards, the most in franchise history, and the offense was also among the league's worst, finishing ranked 31st.One win came at home against New England, when the Dolphins scored a miraculous touchdown with a pass and double lateral on the final play. The Patriots had expected a Hail Mary pass, and second-guessers complained that their secondary included lumbering 6-foot-6 Rob Gronkowski."My last memory here wasn't a great one," Flores said with a chuckle.That improbable finish couldn't save Gase. Ross fired him Laremy Tunsil Jersey , ordered a roster overhaul and acknowledged it may take several seasons to build a winner. The revamp is likely to include the departure of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has been with Miami since 2012 but has never taken a postseason snap.Flores becomes Miami's 10th head coach since 2004, including three interim coaches. Grier noted that two of Flores' predecessors, Gase and Tony Sparano, reached the playoffs in their first season before the team backslid, so Miami will try a more patient approach."We want to build this where it's long term and you can win for many years, instead of trying to go year to year," Grier said.Flores is braced for the frustrations that come with rebuilding."That's part of leadership — dealing with adversity," he said. "There's going to be some pain. There's pain for every team."As for his curtailed Super Bowl celebration, he wasn't complaining."No, this is not getting cheated at all," Flores said. "That was a great experience, but I guess I've always been this way — I look forward." With the playoffs now out of reach, Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase says injuries sabotaged the season, and quarterback Ryan Tannehill never had a chance to be fairly evaluated.And does the head coach deserve to return in 2019?"I don't need to lobby for my job," Gase said Monday. "I'm not worried about that."Gase said he hasn't had any discussions regarding his future with team owner Stephen Ross, who faces decisions regarding possible offseason organizational changes in the wake of the Dolphins' elimination from playoff contention. A dismal 17-7 loss at home Sunday to lowly Jacksonville ensured the team will again sit out the postseason.Ross has declined to say Gase will be back for a fourth season. Gase is 23-25 at Miami, including 7-8 this year after a 3-0 start.His biggest regret about 2018?"I wish everybody hadn't gotten hurt Myles Gaskin Miami Dolphins Jerseys ," Gase said. "That would have been nice."The Dolphins lost 12 key players to season-ending injuries, including two top offensive linemen, their best run stopper and dynamic receivers Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant."We lost good players," Gase said. "There's a reason we started 3-0 鈥?because all those guys were there."Tannehill missed five games with an injury to his throwing shoulder. And when he played, the offense was wildly inconsistent, fueling speculation Sunday's season finale at Buffalo will be his last game with the Dolphins.Tannehill has never taken a snap in the postseason, but Gase continues to argue the seven-year veteran can be an elite quarterback with a better supporting cast."Everybody is always going to blame the quarterback," Gase said. "We just need everybody doing their job, and then you can really evaluate the quarterback. We haven't had the consistency we need on offense to look at what Ryan is, really. Nobody helps him, and then he starts to try to do more than he should, and then that hurts him."Such was the case Sunday, when Tannehill's ill-advised pass under pressure in the fourth quarter was intercepted and returned for a touchdown that sealed the defeat.Tannehill said every position has contributed to the offensive inconsistencies."Start with me and just go right down the line," Tannehill said. "When you have that, it all stacks up and you're not moving the ball. We have to be cleaner, every position, starting with me."Tannehill and the other starters will assume their usual roles at Buffalo, Gase said. That's a change from last year Miami Dolphins Jerseys 2019 , when the coach gave younger, inexperienced players tryouts in the meaningless finale."I'm never going to do that again," Gase said. "I'd rather go 8-8. We're going to try to win the game."Even with a victory, the Dolphins are assured of sitting out the playoffs for the 15th time in the past 17 seasons. They'll finish at .500 or worse for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons.Statistics say that by winning seven games, the Dolphins have actually overachieved. They're on the verge of several franchise records, none good.They've been outgained by 1,463 yards. The team record is 1,321 in 1967.They're allowing 392 yards per game. The team record is 383 two years ago.They've allowed 3,717 net yards passing. The team record is 4,000 in 2015.On offense, total yardage will likely be the Dolphins' lowest total since 2007. Net yards passing could be the lowest since 2003.The Dolphins rank 30th in the 32-team NFL on both offense and defense. They've never finished worse than 30th on offense or 29th on defense.But they're 7-1 in one-score games. They're 0-7 in games decided by 10 points or more, and have been outscored in those games 228-104.Those are the statistics of January spectators."We share failures, we share successes," veteran defensive end Cameron Wake said. "It's on everybody."