Brian Flores, the former Miami Dolphins coach who filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL claiming racially discriminating hiring practices after being fired on Jan. 10, has found his next destination.
Flores was hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday as a senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach, the Steelers announced.
Flores getting the job with the Steelers does not mean he’s dropping the lawsuit, according to a statement released by his lawyers, Doug Wigdor and John Elefterakis.
“We congratulate Coach Flores on his new position with the Steelers and thank Coach [Mike] Tomlin and the organization for giving him this great opportunity,” the statement read. “While Coach Flores is now focused on his new position, he will continue with his race discrimination class action so that real change can be made in the NFL.”
Flores went 24-25 over three seasons as Dolphins head coach, fired despite back-to-back winning seasons in Miami and winning eight of his last nine games. Dolphins owner Steve Ross alluded to Flores’ lack of communication and collaboration when he let Flores go.
In the midst of Flores missing out on the other eight head coaching openings that came up following the regular season, Flores filed the lawsuit. His most damning claim against the Dolphins was that Ross offered him financial incentive to tank in his first season in 2019. Ross has vehemently denied the allegations.
Many believed that Flores could become the Colin Kaepernick of NFL coaches after filing the suit and be left without of a job all together until Pittsburgh hired Flores on Saturday. At the time of Flores’ lawsuit, the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin was the one active Black head coach in the NFL.
Since, the Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel, who is biracial with a Black father, and the Houston Texans promoted Lovie Smith for their head coaching vacancy. The NFL also has minority coaches in the Washington Commanders’ Ron Rivera (Hispanic) and New York Jets’ Robert Saleh (Arab-American). Flores was still up for the Texans and Saints’ head roles when he and his lawyers put the lawsuit together.
“I am excited about Brian Flores joining our coaching staff given his history of developing and teaching defensive players during his time in the NFL,” said Tomlin in a statement. “Brian’s resume speaks for itself, and I look forward to him adding his expertise to help our team.”
The Steelers are slated to visit Miami for a game against the Dolphins in the 2022 season at a date to be determined.
The move also reunites Flores with Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, whose career has taken off in Pittsburgh since being traded from the Dolphins during Flores’ first year in Miami.
In that 2019 season, Flores took on the challenge of leading a talent-depleted Dolphins roster for his first head coaching job after spending 15 years as part of the New England Patriots’ organization. Flores was able to get five wins out of a team that, early on, appeared destined to go winless.
Flores then got the Dolphins to within a game of qualifying for the playoffs each of the past two seasons. The 2020 team went 10-6, marking a second season of exceeding expectations given the roster. In 2021, with postseason aspirations, the Dolphins started 1-7 before a midseason turnaround to finish 9-8.
Flores also alleged in the lawsuit that he was pressured by Ross to tamper with a prominent player before his free agency in the 2020 offseason began, another claim that Ross denied.
Beyond his alleged experiences with the Dolphins, another factor leading to Flores filing the suit was how he felt the New York Giants’ head coach job was already set to go to fellow candidate, former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, at the time of his interview.
What gave Flores this indication was a mistaken text message from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, congratulating the wrong Brian that previously worked under him as an assistant.
Flores claims Black coaching candidates are often subject to “sham” interviews where they are brought in merely to fill the NFL’s Rooney Rule requirement to interview minority candidates for prominent roles. He said he felt a similar experience interviewing with the Denver Broncos in 2019 when he ultimately got the Dolphins’ job.
Both the Giants and Broncos have also denied claims made against them.
With the allegations against Ross dealing with the integrity of the game, the NFL has begun an investigation to determine if he indeed offered Flores $100,000 to lose games in 2019 as a means to improve draft positioning. Flores has said he has witnesses that can back his claims.
Flores recently told the I Am Athlete podcast, which the South Florida Sun Sentinel participated in, that he did not sign his release from the Dolphins after being fired. His signature would have kept Flores from saying anything disparaging against the Dolphins in exchange for the remaining $6 million he is owed on the five-year contract he signed, which he has not received.
