Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores said Wednesday he believes the NFL is at a “fork in the road” moment when it comes to the hiring of Black coaches in the aftermath of his filing a class-action lawsuit against the league and several teams alleging racial discrimination.
“We’re either going to keep it the way it is or we’re going to go in another direction and actually make some real change where we’re actually changing the hearts and minds of those who make decisions to hire head coaches, executives, et cetera,” Flores said on CBS Mornings. “And that’s what we’ve got to get to. We’ve got to change hearts and minds.”
Flores, appearing alongside attorneys Doug Wigdor and John Elefterakis, went on to conduct interviews on other TV programs Wednesday morning, continuing to discuss what he described as “waves of emotions for me” following his decision to file the lawsuit Tuesday.
On an appearance on CNN’s New Day, Flores said Patriots coach Bill Belichick did not know that a text exchange purportedly between the two of them would be made public in the class-action lawsuit.
Flores alleges in the lawsuit, which was submitted to the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, that Belichick accidentally let him know that the Giants had already chosen Brian Daboll as their next coach, days before Flores was set to interview for the position.
“Is this real? Am I wasting my time?” Flores said he thought to himself upon seeing Belichick's messages. “But, look, I just put my best foot forward. That’s what I've always done. ... I’ve been a long shot my entire life. So I figured I’d put my best foot forward and interview to the best of my ability, but there was also this sliver of hope that I had. Maybe I'm naive to what really goes on behind the scenes.”
Flores added the two have not spoken since the lawsuit was released.
Wigdor, one of the lawyers, also said on CNN that they have “corroborating evidence” about the allegation Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores $100,000 per loss in 2019. Flores said in the lawsuit he didn’t comply with the request.
Flores and his legal team also said Wednesday they believe other coaches will join them in the class-action lawsuit. In the lawsuit itself, Flores and his team allege that “upon information and belief, the Proposed Class contains more than 40 members during the applicable limitations period.”
During a separate appearance on CBS Mornings on Wednesday, Washington coach Ron Rivera, who initially was asked about his franchise’s new name being unveiled, was also asked about Flores’s lawsuit.
Rivera, who is the league’s only Hispanic head coach, said, “I think what Brian’s doing is really a brave thing. Because again in this world, in what we do, we’ve got to be willing to open up our eyes and really decide on merit. And when you look at a guy like Brian and what’s he been able to accomplish and what he’s done, there’s a lot of merit there. And those are the types of things that people should be judged on and things should be based on.”
In a statement Tuesday, the Dolphins “vehemently” denied the allegations against them while noting they are “proud of the diversity and inclusion throughout our organization.” The Giants said in a statement they were “pleased and confident” with their hiring process and said Flores was “in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour.”
The NFL said in a statement that “diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.”
Flores was 24–25 in three seasons as Miami’s coach. Despite leading the team to back-to-back winning seasons in each of the past two years, he was fired Jan. 10. He is currently in the interview process for openings with the Saints and Texans, saying on CNN on Wednesday he would not drop the lawsuit if he was offered either of the two positions.
