PITTSBURGH — On the first day of OTAs two weeks ago, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin pointed out that it's not just the first chance for him to evaluate fresh faces on the roster, but also to assess how new assistants do their jobs.
To hear Tomlin's players tell it, he's getting just the kind of coaching boost that he expected from new senior defensive assistant Brian Flores. When Tomlin hired Flores in February, he also included the linebacker position in his job title, but it's clear through two weeks of offseason practices that his influence is extending to other units of the defense, too.
"Man, he's a bulldog," safety Terrell Edmunds said. "Just the way he talks, you can tell he's got, like, the military mentality. He wants everything to be on point."
Indeed, Flores isn't just working with the linebackers. He's running turnover drills for the defensive backs and, by all accounts, bringing what he learned from his previous NFL stops to Pittsburgh.
It's not surprising to hear Edmunds describe Flores that way, given that he spent 15 seasons under Bill Belichick in New England, probably the most militant organization in the NFL. His work with the Patriots — scouting, then coaching special teams, then safeties, then linebackers — landed him the head job with the Dolphins from 2019-21.
By now, it's well known inside and outside the Steelers locker room that Flores was fired by Miami and his career took an unexpected turn when he filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Dolphins, three other specifics teams and the NFL. While that case works its way through the legal system, possibly into arbitration, Flores is working to improve a Steelers defense that finished last against the run in 2021.
"Great coach — should be a head coach in this league," new inside linebacker Myles Jack told reporters. "Very detailed, very specific. You know exactly what he expects from you. You know what you're getting going into each practice. He can explain things. I enjoy it. I feel like it's like having a cheat sheet as a coach, so it's cool."
If the Steelers defense can develop a cheat sheet for not leading the NFL in penalties (123), yards allowed per carry (5.0) and rushing yards allowed per game (146.1) that would be useful. They also had just 22 takeaways, tied for 14th-most and their fewest since 2018. That number has dropped two years in a row, from 38 in 2019 and 27 in 2020, both of which ranked first or second in the league.
"He's not letting anybody slack off," Edmunds said. "But, you know, we need that. We need that on the back end. We need that with the linebackers, for the communication."
Time will tell if Flores has an impact holistically, but he could also aid the development of individual players who need to take the next step. There's no shortage of linebackers who fall into that category, including starter Devin Bush, who needs to recapture the ability that made him a top-10 pick, and second-year fourth-rounder Buddy Johnson, who needs to find a way onto the field.
Bush and company still have longtime position coach Jerry Olsavsky in their ears, but given how that unit played last season, it can't hurt to have another set of eyes on the group. The linebackers themselves don't seem to mind.
"Having him in the room is outstanding," Bush said of Flores. "He's a guy who's real football-minded and he loves the game, so you can ask him any type of question, have any type of discussion with him. ... I think he's a real good addition to our squad."
For Johnson, who played in just four games last season and only logged six snaps on defense, any strides he makes will be valuable. Even though he wasn't much a part of it last year, he wants to be one of the solutions in stopping the run.
Taking coaching will be key for him to get more involved, and the challenges are already coming from the new face on the defensive staff.
"Coach Flo does a great job getting his point across," Johnson said. "He's demanding on us. We have a lot of respect for him, just the way he rolls."
As Teryl Austin transitions from secondary coach to defensive coordinator, roles are shifting under Tomlin but he still has a "senior defensive assistant" to lean on. Now it's Flores, who could be just the right piece of connective tissue between the linebackers and the defensive backs, a back-seven that must work in tandem.
If we've heard "communication" once as a reason for breakdowns in coverage, we've heard it 100 times. Perhaps finding someone who can minimize those lapses was near the top of Tomlin's to-do list this offseason, and Flores became available at just the right time.
"I'm telling you, he's just locked in," Edmunds said. "He's having everybody on point, so that's going to be a big help for us."
