The Cardinals have reached out to the Steelers for permission to interview defensive assistant Brian Flores for their head coaching job, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports.
Arizona entered the coaching market after firing Kliff Kingsbury earlier this week. He compiled a 28-37-1 record in four NFL seasons, going a career-worst 4–13 in 2022.
Flores would bring experience to an Arizona club struggling to progress after committing to Kyler Murray as its franchise quarterback. He previously served as head coach of the Dolphins from 2019 to ’21, going 24–25. After overachieving in ’19 with a 5–11 record, the Dolphins posted back-to-back winning seasons in ’20 and ’21, but Flores was fired by the team, in a surprising and controversial move by the franchise.
Flores later filed a lawsuit against the team, along with the Giants, Broncos and the NFL, alleging racist hiring practices. In the lawsuit, he alleged that Miami owner Stephen Ross offered him a $100,000 bonus per loss, in hopes that the team would secure a top NFL draft pick. He also alleged that Ross pushed Flores to recruit a “prominent quarterback” who was already under contract with another team. The player was later identified as Tom Brady.
An NFL investigation later found that the Dolphins tampered with Brady during Flores’s tenure with the team, but did not back up the allegations that Ross attempted to have Flores tank games.
Just weeks after the lawsuit was fired, Flores was hired by the Steelers as a senior defensive assistant and the team’s linebackers coach. The Cardinals job is not Flores’s only opportunity this offseason. He interviewed with the Browns for their defensive coordinator position on Thursday, the team confirmed.
