Ryan Fitzpatrick played for nine teams, including the Jets, in his 17-year career. He knows a thing or two when hiring a head coach.
In a recent episode of his podcast, “Fitz & Whit,” which he hosts with Prime Video analyst Andrew Whitworth, the quarterback-turned-NFL-Analyst warned teams seeking to hire Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who the Jets have requested to interview.
“But, when people say, ‘Give me somebody from Miami that coached under you as a reference, so we can talk to them,’ I think he burned a lot of bridges there,” Fitzpatrick said, via X/Twitter. “I think he alienated himself from the entire staff. Instead of what [Whitworth] were just talking about, having the humility to ask questions, to collaborate, I think by the end of his time there, he became a dictator.
“He ruined a lot of relationships that he built up through the NFL. And his ego grew so big that there wasn’t room for anyone else.”
Fitzpatrick clarified his comments in the comments section of the post, writing that he really likes Flores and considers him a friend.
“The end in Miami wasn’t pretty but I think he has grown and can look back on his tenure in Miami knowing he wasn’t perfect and has learned a lot,” Fitzpatrick wrote.
Fitzpatrick played under Flores in his two-year stint with the Miami Dolphins in 2019 and 2020. During that span, he saw Flores turn Miami from a 5-11 loser to a 10-6 playoff contender.
Flores’s tenure as Dolphins head coach ended after the following season. It resulted in him filing a racial discrimination lawsuit in February 2022, where he presented as potential evidence a text message from Patriots coach Bill Belichick — a mentor to him and Brian Daboll — while claiming that the Giants had already decided, before interviewing Flores, that they were going to hire Daboll as their coach.
Belichick’s text message meant to congratulate Daboll on getting the job, which he had yet to formally receive. But Belichick mistakenly sent the message to Flores and not Daboll.
“I hear from Buffalo & NYG that you are their guy,” Belichick wrote.
Flores has served as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator over the last two seasons.
