DAVIE, Fla. -- Brian Flores officially hired 16 assistant coaches to join him in his mission to turn around the Miami Dolphins, including Jim Caldwell as his assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach.
Caldwell is currently the most experienced coach on the Dolphins staff and he'll be a sounding board for Flores, a first-time head coach. Caldwell returns to the NFL after sitting out the 2018 season.
The Dolphins also officially named Chad O'Shea as offensive coordinator, Patrick Graham as defensive coordinator and Danny Crossman as special teams coordinator.
Flores, less than a week after holding the high-powered Rams offense to three points as the Patriots' defensive playcaller in Super Bowl LIII, nabbed three coaches off the Patriots' staff to join him: O'Shea (previously Patriots receivers coach), Josh Boyer as defensive pass game coordinator/cornerbacks coach (previously Patriots cornerbacks coach) and Jerry Schuplinski as assistant quarterbacks coach (previously same position with Patriots).
In his seven seasons as an NFL head coach with the Indianapolis Colts (2009-11) and Detroit Lions (2014-17), Caldwell had five winning seasons and four playoff appearances. He also won Super Bowls as an assistant coach with the Colts (Super Bowl XLI) and Baltimore Ravens (Super Bowl XLVII). Caldwell's expertise lies with quarterbacks, where he has helped lead Peyton Manning, Joe Flacco and Matthew Stafford to some of their best seasons.
"Jim is an incredible human being, a man of faith and a great football coach. His experience as a head coach will be invaluable for me," Flores said. "Jim is a great teacher, highly organized and somebody that I have a lot of respect for."
Caldwell also will be a key resource for O'Shea, who will be a first-time offensive coordinator. The two will work together to design an offense for the rebuilding Dolphins revolving around a new quarterback. Ryan Tannehill, the Dolphins' starter since 2012, is not expected to return to Miami in 2019.
Miami is currently retaining three assistant coaches from the Adam Gase era: running backs coach Eric Studesville, safety (previously defensive backs) coach Tony Oden and quality control coach Josh Grizzard.