By Kydia Bilbo, Staff Writer

 Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and three NFL teams: the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, and New York Giants. Flores reveals discrimination within his interviews with the Broncos and Giants as well as his termination as Dolphins head coach last month. 

Flores believes his meetings with the Giants and the Broncos were “sham interviews”, and that he was only interviewed to satisfy the “Rooney Rule” which requires teams to interview at least one Black candidate for coaching staff openings. Flores highlights the NFL’s league-wide failure to prioritize Black coach hiring and retention. 

The Giants deny any racial discrimination during their interview process with Flores, describing the allegations as “simply false and disturbing,” in a statement released Thursday evening. However, Flores claims that he received a text mistakenly sent from New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick meant to congratulate Brian Daboll for being unofficially hired as the New York Giants head coach three days before Flores was interviewed for the position.

Flores alleges that the Broncos’ General Manager, President, and CEO arrived an hour late to the interview, and it appeared that they had been drinking heavily the night before, noting they looked “completely disheveled”. Flores contends that it was clear the Broncos had no true intention of considering Flores as a legitimate candidate for the head coach role. The Broncos dismissed Flores’ allegations as “blatantly false.”

Flores claims that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross proposed to violate NFL rules and pay Flores $100,000 per loss to secure a higher NFL draft pick. Upon refusing to violate tampering rules, Ross characterized Flores as an “angry Black man” who was “difficult to work with and noncompliant,” which led to his firing.

Flores was a candidate for multiple head coach positions but felt compelled to pursue a class-action lawsuit against the NFL. Knowing filing the lawsuit could potentially end his NFL career completely, Flores acknowledged the fact that Black people are scarcely represented among head coaches, general managers, and coordinators.

In a statement, the NFL dismissed Flores’ claims as meritless and pledged to fight the lawsuit. Days later, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell described the lack of head coaching diversity as “unacceptable” in a memo sent to the league’s team owners. 

Flores’ lawsuit also argues that the NFL racially discriminates against other Black coaches, denying them positions as head coaches, general managers, offensive and defensive coordinators, and quarterbacks coaches. Flores believes that the NFL is “managed much like a plantation” and is racially segregated. He highlights that the 32 non-Black owners profit from the hard work of players who are 70% Black.

“I understand the risks, and yes, it was a difficult decision. I went back and forth,” Flores said on CBS Mornings. “I love coaching. I do. It’s something that I’m passionate about. It brings me joy. And I love helping young people reach their potential and become the best version of themselves. I’m gifted to do that. But this is bigger than that.”

Flores had back-to-back winning seasons and became the first coach in league history to win seven straight games after losing 7 straight.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin who is the only Black coach in the NFL, became the first coach in NFL history to not have a losing season in 15 straight years. The facts show in order to keep your job as a Black head coach, you have to be nearly perfect. But it is courageous of Brian Flores to sacrifice his NFL coaching to fight for my black coordinators, head coaches, and front office executives.

In a statement released by his lawyers, Flores said the lawsuit is not about “my personal goals.” Rather, “my sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come.”

While it is unlikely that Flores will coach in the NFL again, he risked his career and he felt it was his duty to stand tall and shed light on the racial injustices within the league. Since the lawsuit, the Houston Texans hired Lovie Smith as head coach after firing former head coach David Culley, a Black man, after one season.