Veteran NFL assistant Dave DeGuglielmo, whom the Dolphins hired as an analyst in May, will replace Flaherty. DeGuglielmo has had two previous stints as Miami’s offensive line coach and coached with Flores on Bill Belichick’s Patriots staff in 2014-15. In a somewhat surprising decision, he was fired by Colts Coach Frank Reich in January after helping the Indianapolis offensive line to great improvement in 2018.

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“The easy decision would have been to do nothing,” Flores told reporters Tuesday morning, citing issues such as communication and fit as the reasons for his decision to fire Flaherty. “We felt we needed to make that move. ... Hopefully it will get better.

“I went with my gut on this decision. We need our line to be tough and smart and to understand what to do. We need continuity."

Flores added that he had targeted DeGuglielmo when cobbling together his Dolphins coaching staff earlier this year but said he wasn’t available at the time. The Dolphins made three changes to their starting offensive line for Tuesday’s training camp practice, installing Jesse Davis at right tackle, Will Holden at right guard and Michael Deiter at left guard. On Sunday, Flaherty said Deiter was “a long ways away.”

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Beset by injuries and poor play, the Dolphins’ offensive line was ranked 31st out of 32 NFL teams last season by Pro Football Focus. It will be a key component this year because of the team’s quarterback options, which consist of 36-year-old Ryan Fitzpatrick (on his eighth NFL team) or second-year pro Josh Rosen (whom the Dolphins acquired from the Cardinals in exchange for two draft picks, one of them a second-rounder). Rosen struggled as a rookie in Arizona playing behind the only offensive line to rank worse than Miami’s, per PFF.

On Tuesday, Flores said the veteran free agent acquisition has the upper hand early in training camp.

“It’s pretty clear to me Ryan Fitzpatrick is leading the way,” he said. “Ryan has been more productive. ... He runs the offense very efficiently. Has great rapport with the entire team. He has a lot of leadership ability. We need that to continue.”

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