Pittsburgh Steelers fifth-year linebacker, Robert Spillane recently spoke with the media and discussed the inside linebacker room and new inside linebacker coach and senior defensive assistant, Brian Flores. During the course of the interview, Spillane paid homage to Flores:
"He could be a head coach in this league and to have that in our room every day is very special."
Flores, who spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, is in his first year as a defensive assistant/linebackers coach with the Steelers. After being relieved of his duties in the off-season by Miami, he decided to sue the NFL claiming racism during the hiring process. After the dust had settled and the lawsuit seemed to have calmed down, Head Coach Mike Tomlin saw the perfect opportunity to bring an excellent individual and coach to Pittsburgh.
Flores had a 24-25 career record as head coach for the Dolphins, but his charisma and leadership were defining characteristics that helped him land a position on the Steelers staff. During his three-year stint with the Dolphins, Flores manned a defense that improved every year. His background as defensive assistant saw him win multiple Super Bowls with the New England Patriots where he spent nearly two decades in multiple positions such as a safeties coach, as well as a linebackers coach.
Prior to accepting the head coaching position with the Dolphins in 2019, Flores had already won four Super Bowl rings while on staff with New England.
Pittsburgh Steelers Senior Defensive Assistant/Linebackers Coach Brian Flores participates in the Organized Team Activities (OTA's), Tuesday May 24, 2022 at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. (Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers)
Spillane, who has spent the better part of four years with the Steelers, has transitioned from strictly a special teamer, to someone who has a legit shot at being a starter for the defense. Spillane became somewhat of hometown hero in 2020 after being thrust into action early on in the season. During a mid-season match up that year, Spillane met Tennessee Titans running back, Derrick Henry in the hole on a goal-line stand in which all of Pittsburgh would never forget.
Spillane has now been in Pittsburgh for four seasons and understands what it means to play linebacker for the Steelers. During his media session, Spillane mentioned just how Flores' leadership has been evident:
"He's very concise, he doesn't mince his words. He knows what he wants and he expects us to get it done." Spillane also mentioned, "I love working with him [Flores]... he's open minded, he's willing to work with players and he wants to see what we are seeing on the field."
The inside linebackers last season were not the highlight of the defense for the Steelers. Devin Bush was coming off of a torn ACL from the 2020 season and looked completely different than he did prior to his injury. The Steelers also saw long-time linebacker, Vince Williams retire right before training camp, so they were forced to sign Joe Schobert prior to the start of the season. Both Bush and Schobert had a rough season and were definite cogs in a defense that ended up last in the NFL in rush defense. However, the Steelers signed surprising free agent and former second round pick, Myles Jack who is hoping to sure up the middle of the defense.
The signing of Jack combined with the hiring of Flores seems to be the perfect recipe to turn around the Steelers inside linebackers in 2022. Seeing the quotes from Spillane should give Steelers fans a lot of excitement about the linebackers in 2022. Having a positional coach who just spent three seasons as the head coach of an NFL team should give the Steelers a definite advantage at the position going into 2022.
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