PITTSBURGH — New Steelers senior defensive assistant Brian Flores didn't want to delve very deep into his ongoing class-action lawsuit against the NFL for alleged racial discrimination in their hiring practices during his first extended interview since being hired by the Steelers earlier this spring. Flores deflected three questions about the lawsuit and said he's been focusing his energies on getting up to speed on how the Steelers operate.
Flores was hired by Tomlin to a senior role on his staff while also overseeing the linebackers following the retirement of defensive coordinator Keith Butler. Flores is collaborating with Tomlin and new defensive coordinator Teryl Austin as the Steelers transition after seven seasons with Butler calling the defensive signals.
"This experience, being in Pittsburgh the last few months, has been a lot of fun," Flores said Wednesday morning before the second practice of this week's minicamp on the South Side. "I've learned a lot. I've been around a lot of great people. It's a great city. I'm just excited to get going. I just try to keep my focus day-to-day."
Before becoming the head coach of the Dolphins, Flores spent 15 years as a scouting assistant and assistant coach under Bill Belichick in New England. In his final season with the Patriots in 2018, Flores called the defensive signals as the Patriots won their sixth Lombardi trophy.
It was Flores' fourth Super Bowl victory after joining the organization in 2004. Although Flores did not mention any specifics of his role on Tomlin's staff, he did say ideas have been exchanged on how the Steelers defense could change going forward.
"There has been great conversation," Flores said. "You put guys in a room from different backgrounds, you get different ideas and different ways of thinking. For me, it's been an opportunity to learn, and hopefully I'm bringing something to the table that will help in a small way. At the end of the day, we all have to come to an agreement, get that information to the players and try to execute."
While Flores is working with the inside linebackers, it's clear his role within the defense on the whole will be greater than an ordinary position coach. As a former head coach and an assistant under Belichick, Flores has a wealth of knowledge and has experienced only one losing season during almost two decades in the NFL. That came as a rookie head coach of the Dolphins in 2019 when he finished with a 5-11 record.
"I'm trying to help in any way I can," Flores said. "That's linebackers, obviously. But if it's getting water, I'll get water. Whatever it is to help the team win, that's what I'm about, helping guys get better. To me, that's coaching."
His biggest task will be helping Devin Bush, the No. 10 overall pick from the 2019 draft who has struggled since tearing his ACL five games into the 2020 season. The Steelers did not pick up the fifth-year option on Bush's rookie contract and he can become a free agent following this season.
"The physical part, he looks good out here," Flores said. "He's moving around well. That's the case for all of them. You can't really evaluate linebackers until you put the pads on. It's one thing to be out here in shorts, and it's another to take on a 330-pound guard who's coming at you. It's early in the process. So far, he's done a nice job along with all the guys in that room."
The class-action lawsuit named three NFL teams, including the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos. Flores claimed former Broncos CEO Joe Ellis and general manager John Elway showed up an hour late for their interview with him in 2019 and "looked completely disheveled and it was obvious that they had been drinking heavily the night before."
Flores claimed the Giants gave him a sham interview to be their head coach this year. He submitted text exchanges between he and Belichick that indicated he would be getting the Giants head coaching job before he was interviewed. As it turned out, Belichick mistakenly texted Flores and thought he was communicating with Brian Daboll, another former Patriots assistant coach who was later named the head coach of the Giants.
Flores said he's not spending much time worrying about the progress of the lawsuit against the NFL.
"My focus is on today, this team, this practice," Flores said. "I try to live in the moment and not think about things that have happened in the past. I'm excited about the opportunity here. I understand the question. I really do. My focus right now is here."
Since the lawsuit was made public, the NFL did take some steps to improve the Rooney Rule, a league policy named after late Steelers president Dan Rooney that requires all teams to interview minorities for head coaching jobs and senior front office positions.
In light of the lawsuit, the NFL this year made it a requirement for all teams to have at least one minority on its offensive coaching staff.
"Any time you create a situation where guys get an opportunity, I'm all for that," Flores said. "I'll kind of leave it there. I'm just excited about working with these players and coaches and this organization."
