Skip to main content

The Miami Dolphins are heading into their third season with Brian Flores as their head coach after making a dramatic turnaround from 5-11 to 10-6 last year.

The question for 2021 obviously is whether the Dolphins can improve once again or whether they will take a step back, and betting odds offers some kind of glimpse as to what the perception from outsiders looks like when it comes to predicting which way the Dolphins will go.

In short, there's more of a feeling the Dolphins will be contenders than pretenders in 2021.

READ MORE: Flores Tackles Various OTA Topics

Flores has been given 18/1 odds to be named 2021 NFL Coach of the Year, according to BetOnline.ag, ranking him tied for seventh with Bill Belichick of the Patriots, John Harbaugh of the Ravens and Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers.

The favorite is new Chargers head coach Brandon Staley at 10/1, followed by 2020 Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski of the Browns at 12/1, Sean McVay of the Rams at 14/1, with Andy Reid, Bruce Arians and Sean McDermott at 16/1.

The two longest shots are two new head coaches, David Culley of the Houston Texans and former Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions, both at 50/1.

Then there's the flip side, with the odds for the first coach to be fired.

On that list, Flores is tied for 12th with 25/1 odds, per BetOnline.ag, joined at that spot by Frank Reich of the Colts, Pete Carroll of the Seahawks, Sean Payton of the Saints, Harbaugh, Shanahan and McVay.

The "favorite" to be the first coach fired is Mike McCarthy of the Dallas Cowboys at 15/2, and the one deemed least likely to be the first fired is Reid at 500/1.

When it comes to Flores, let's just say he's a lot more likely to be in the conversation for Coach of the Year than to be the first coach fired based on his first two seasons.

Flores was third in the Coach of the Year voting in 2020 behind Stefanski and McDermott, and it says here Flores should have received votes in 2019 as well after guiding the Dolphins to a 5-4 record in their final nine games with a roster universally considered among the worst in the NFL in several years.