Brian Flores has found a new coaching job in the NFL. On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced they have hired Flores to be their senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach. This comes after Flores was surprisingly fired by the Miami Dolphins after being the team’s head coach for three seasons. This also comes as Flores has filed a lawsuit against the NFL for racial discrimination.
“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,” Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said. “Brian’s resume speaks for itself, and I look forward to him adding his expertise to help our team.”
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Flores’ lawsuit is also against the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos. He alleges discrimination in the interview process with the Giants and Broncos as well as his firing by Miami. For the Dolphins, Flores alleges that team owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss in 2019 to lose for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. For the Giants, Flores claims the team interviewed him only to comply with the Rooney Rule.
“The Rooney rule is intended to give minorities the opportunity to sit down in front of ownership,” Flores said on CBS Mornings the day after he filed the lawsuit, per NBC News. “But I think what it’s turned into is an instance where guys are just checking the box. “I’ve been on some interviews in the past where I’ve had that feeling, there’s no way to know for sure, but you know, and I know I’m not alone.”
Flores was one of the few Black head coaches in the NFL before he was fired. Currently, there is one Black head coach in the league, and that’s Tomlin. In his three seasons with the Dolphins, Flores posted a 24-25 overall record and never reached the playoffs. However, Flores posted back-to-back winning seasons, leading to some believing the team was on the rise.
Before becoming the head coach with the Dolphins, Flores was a longtime assistant coach with the New England Patriots. He joined the team in 2004 as a scouting assistant and became a special teams assistant in 2008. From there, he worked his way up the ladder and was a linebackers coach from 2016 to 2018.
