The Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons sharing the practice field ahead of this weekend’s preseason game has a few unique quirks. One being that the Dolphins and Falcons will play at Hard Rock Stadium twice this year — once on Saturday and again during Week 7 of the regular season. But the more intriguing subplot of the shared experience at training camp is the relationship between coach and quarterback.
No, we aren’t talking about Tua Tagovailoa and Brian Flores. And we aren’t talking about Matt Ryan and Arthur Smith, either.
We’re talking about former college teammates Brian Flores and Matt Ryan.
The Dolphins head coach and Falcons quarterback shared one season together at Boston College — Ryan’s true freshman season was a redshirt season that happened to overlap with Flores’ senior year in 2003. And with the joint practices this week, Ryan was asked about his relationship with his former teammate and offered praise for Flores going all the way back to 2003.
#Falcons QB Matt Ryan and #Dolphins coach Brian Flores were teammates at Boston College. “He used to kick my ass on the scout team,” Ryan says of Flores. Ryan added Flores was a good teammate in college, and he’s happy for Flores’ rise in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/jHYRBOQis1
— Safid Deen 💯💯💯💯 (@Safid_Deen) August 18, 2021
“Listen, Brian was kicking my (butt) when I was on scout team so he was physical. He was a good player back then but as soon as he went to New England as a scout, you know, right after (Boston College), just how professional he always was; he was quiet and a hard worker. Great teammate. You know, was good to me as a freshman, young kid coming in. He was great to me and I’m happy for him,” said Ryan.
There’s little doubt that the pair has achieved great success since departing Chestnut Hill. And while the pair have had several NFL run-ins over the years, this will be the first in which Flores has the title of “head coach”; which means their regular season showdown will offer some new bragging rights to be claimed between the two former BC Eagles.
