The football world was rocked on Tuesday afternoon when word came out that now-former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL and several teams, alleging a discriminatory hiring process by the New York Giants. Per Flores’ allegations, the Giants violated the Rooney Rule by making up their minds on hiring Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll — who eventually got the job — before interviewing him, with texts that he received from Bill Belichick prior to his interview submitted as evidence.
In the texts, Belichick texted Flores and congratulated him over getting the job before realizing he made a mistake and that the job was actually going to Daboll — both coaches spent time on Belichick’s staff in New England before moving on to other jobs. Flores went onto ESPN’s Get Up on Wednesday morning and was asked about the texts he received from his former boss, including the things he felt upon learning Belichick contacted the wrong person.
“Disbelief, humiliation, that was a tough pill to swallow,” Flores said. “I have a great amount of respect for Bill and Brian Daboll. Brian’s a great coach, I think he’s going to do a great job as a coach in this league. I was upset that I wasn’t getting a true opportunity to show what I can do, to show what I can bring to a team, which I feel is a lot. That’s what I’ve shown in my time as a head coach.”
“That’s what this is all about as well, there’s not equal opportunity,” one of Flores’ lawyers, John Elefterakis, said. “This is not a knock on coach Daboll, this is a knock on the fact that the job was promised before coach Flores even got an opportunity, and there’s backroom dealings and information that coach Belichick knows. Why? Why is that being discussed? Why do people have this information? Why is a decorated coach like coach Flores humiliated into having to sit through an interview and dinner when a decision’s already been made.”
Flores was asked by Mike Greenberg why, despite being privy to this information, he opted to go through dinner and an interview with the team.
“Because I believe that, innately, people are good, and will do the right thing,” Flores said. “And there’s no way to allow them the opportunity to do the right thing or at least make it a fair situation unless I went there and showed them that I am qualified, that I am a leader of men, that I am passionate about coaching and building relationships. I’m gifted to coach, I am. I know that. And I wanted to show them that, and I think they saw that in the interview.”
Among the other topics covered in the interview was Flores’ allegation that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 per loss during the 2019 season. “That was a conversation about not doing as much as we needed to do to win football games — take a flight, go on vacation, I’ll give you $100,000 per loss,” Flores told Greenberg. “Those are his exact words.”
