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The Miami Dolphins are keeping it in the division when it comes to their next head coach. What has been widely reported in recent weeks is now official: Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores is the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

A three-year letter-winning linebacker at Boston College, Flores has worked for the Patriots since 2004, first breaking into the organization in the personnel department as a scouting assistant and eventually transitioning into coaching as an assistant in 2008. He's served in a variety of roles: defensive assistant, offensive assistant/special teams coach, safeties coach and finally, linebackers coach.

This past season also saw him take over defensive play calling duties after the departure of Matt Patricia, and the results bode well. New England, coming off a Super Bowl LIII win over the Rams, finished seventh in the NFL in points allowed per game (20.3).

Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reported last month that Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier “has long thought highly” of Flores.

Overall, one fact is clear: Flores has traveled a winding road to this point and has gained the experience necessary for a head coaching job. With the backing of positive reviews from multiple Patriots staffers, Miami has deemed him ready to take the position that opened up when the team fired Adam Gase after the end of the 2018 regular season.

Flores will be stepping into a franchise that might be in the midst of some change. The Dolphins finished 27th in the league in points allowed per game (27.1), navigated a treacherous road that included the team being forced to start Brock Osweiler at quarterback, and stumbled down the stretch to a 7-9 finish. They are expected to do some internal rebuilding and the organization believes Flores is the man to lead those efforts as the face of the franchise, Rapoport reported.

Upon confirmation of his hiring in Miami, Flores will become the second Patriots defensive play caller to be hired as a head coach elsewhere in as many seasons.

Meanwhile, Flores will reported be taking another member of the Patriots coaching staff with him to Miami as multiple reports point to Patriots wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea joining him on the staff as the team’s offensive coordinator.

O’Shea was seen as a possible candidate for promotion when it looked like Josh McDaniels was leaving in 2018, but returned for a 10th season as a position coach in New England.

Although he couldn't speak in detail about his new job, O’Shea told Beasley during Super Bowl Week that he’s looking for players that “share some common traits” while tailoring the entire offense to the strengths of the players on hand.

“I truly still believe in the player,” O’Shea said. “I think that you can have a system in place, but if you don’t have the right players to fit within that system, the system isn’t going to work. I think it’s important to identify what your players that you have available to you do best and to try to build the system around what those players do.”

That sounds pretty familiar to anyone familiar with the way the Patriots have operated offensively over the years. A big part of making that work is the play of the quarterback and the decisions the Dolphins make on that front will have a lot to do with what O’Shea builds in 2019.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that former Lions and Colts head coach Jim Caldwell will also have a job on the offensive staff in Miami. Those reports indicated that he could join the team in a senior advisory role with an offensive coordinator working with him. Adding an experienced coach like Caldwell makes sense for a first-time coach like Flores.