How was Patriots' defensive leader Brian Flores shaped by his time as a player at BC?

Tom O’Brien isn’t surprised Brian Flores has become the Patriots’ de facto defensive coordinator at such a relatively young age. He saw Flores’ football IQ — and his potential as a defensive leader — almost 20 years ago when they had to invent a position for him at Boston College.


O’Brien, who was the head coach of the Eagles when Flores was at The Heights from 1999 until 2003, remembers a defender who was part defensive back and part linebacker. As a result, they had to get a little creative when it came to getting him on the field. After he was redshirted as a freshman, and ended up spending most of his first two seasons in the secondary as a backup and on special teams, they came to realization.



“We knew we had to get him on the field more,” recalled O’Brien. “What we did that year was that (defensive coordinator) Frank Spaziani had a different way to play defense, at least at that time. What we did was use a 4-2-5, and Brian ended up playing a hybrid nickel back and linebacker for us. He was basically half a safety and half a linebacker.

“We were just kind of going into uncharted territory at that time with him, and he succeeded at the position, way beyond the expectations we had for him. He just took something that we kind of started at the time, and he just ran with it,” added O’Brien.

“He had a great year as a junior. I remember he played a lot, and he was all over the field. That football IQ was really put to the test, because he had to operate like a linebacker in the run game and had to also do some free safety and in-the-box safety work for us in the passing game as well. He was already a good leader and had a great football IQ, but that really allowed him to get to the next level.”

The move paid off for Boston College and Flores. He became a consistent starter his last two seasons with the Eagles, and finished his senior season second on the team in tackles with 106 (66 solo, 40 assists). He also had six tackles-for-loss, five pass breakups and two quarterback hurries that year.

O’Brien said there was never a singular moment where he was able to look at Flores and see a future coach. Instead, he saw a young man who was able to succeed in whatever it was that he put his mind to, both on and off the field — he was a 2003 All-Big East Academic Team, and added a master's degree in administration as he played his final year of eligibility after graduation.



“There were a lot of smart kids on that team, but the thing that I really remember about Brian is that he wasn’t going to quit anything he started. Whatever he set his mind to doing, he was going to really work hard and achieve it. I think he would have been successful in anything he did, regardless of where he ended up. He really did whatever we asked him to do, and he was always prepared and executed to the best of his ability.”

Following his collegiate career, Flores quickly found a home with the Patriots, first as a scouting assistant and then working his way up the ladder to become part of the pro scouting staff. Then, he flipped over to the coaching side, eventually becoming a position coach for the safeties and linebackers.

And with the departure of Matt Patricia this past offseason, Flores became the leader of the New England defense. While he didn’t get the DC title, it was clear watching the spring workouts who was in charge of the Patriots on the defensive side of the ball. While it doesn’t look like there will be many schematic changes under Flores’ guidance, O’Brien isn’t surprised to hear some New England defenders say Flores is pushing them to be more aggressive.

“I imagine he’s going to be a little like that as a defensive coordinator,” O’Brien said of Flores. “But his philosophy will evolve, and how he does things will change because of what he’s learned over the years with Bill Belichick and watching other coaches and seeing how they do it. I’m sure he’ll take all of that as part of his philosophy.”