Flores and Madden knew each other for 49 years. Flores was Madden’s wide receiver coach from 1972-78, before taking over as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 1979 after Madden retired from a 10-year career as a head coach.
Flores, 84, heard about Madden’s death from a mutual friend. While they remained friends, Flores bemoaned that he didn’t get to spend as much time with Madden in later years. Madden was famous from his fear of flying, so the two rarely saw each other in the past several years.
I asked Flores what he learned from Madden when he took over as head coach of the Raiders. Flores said he had pondered that thought all day Tuesday.
Lester Hayes remembers his first day of training camp in Santa Rosa, California, in 1977 like it was yesterday. He was a fifth-round pick out of Texas A&M, where he was a former linebacker and strong safety for the Aggies. Hayes wanted to stay at safety, but Madden had other ideas. He worked out at cornerback that first day and he was crestfallen, Hayes explained by phone Tuesday night.
Madden then sent future Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown to go get Hayes from the locker room. Hayes was already out of his uniform.
“Coach Madden, oh my God, he sent in No. 24, the godfather of the bump-and-run coverage,” Hayes said. “He said ‘Get dressed.’ Willie Brown told me to get dressed, so I got dressed. he took me out to the field and we worked on bump-and-run coverage. It all changed then … Thank God, Coach Madden did that.”
Hayes went on to become an All-Pro cornerback and one of the greatest to ever play the position.
