Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores compiled a 24-25 record in three seasons coaching a dysfunctional Dolphins team. The fact that he finished within .500 is impressive considering the team's owner reportedly offered Flores $100,000 for each loss in 2019.
(Reportedly not. It actually happened. Ross created a cover story saying it was a joke.)
Flores spent 2022 as an assistant with the Steelers before landing in Minnesota as defensive coordinator. Flores, despite dramatically improving one of the league's worst defenses a year ago. zero Interview for one of eight head coaching vacancies in 2024.
That's not surprising. Within a month of Flores' firing, he filed a landmark racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and three teams: the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos. (Flores later added the Texans, claiming it was retaliation for not hiring him to replace Lovie Smith.) There are four teams specifically, and the NFL generally has different hiring practices. Flores says this happens because he is forced to spend time and money protecting his people. persona non grata Because you have the courage to pursue your legal rights.
From such a background, Flores will also be in attendance. at next week's Coaches Accelerator program in conjunction with the owners conference in Nashville. It feels like part of an awkward dance that continues until his case is solved. (More than two years later, the case remains back at square one, focusing on the NFL's efforts to force claims into a secret and fraudulent Kangaroo Arbitration Tribunal run by the league.)
From Flores' point of view, she needs to look like she's trying to find a job, even if she knows it's pointless. From the league's perspective, they need to appear to be giving Flores fair consideration, even if they aren't.
At this point, it's not about his claims of racial bias.It's a story about the NFL and the challenges teams take on Why, sir? Approach the person who mustered up the courage to file a lawsuit. Most people think that's fine and nice. The truth is that it violates federal and state law to exclude people who have engaged in legally protected activities.
Maybe one of the NFL's owners will finally do the right thing and treat him like someone who didn't put a scarlet letter on his coaching career. After he filed suit, the Steelers gave him a lifeline. The Vikings put him in charge of their defense, and both were great.
The next step will be even bigger. Will the owners risk the disapproval of the club's oligarch partners by giving their nemesis in court a safe haven? If the Haslams believe that cracking the collusion code with Deshaun Watson's contract prompted the snub, making Flores one of 32 NFL head coaches is a sign of that. It's going to be absolutely zero head, shoulders, knees and toes for the owner who runs it.
I hope the owner eventually gives Flores another chance. If no one does, we will be reaffirmed that, collectively, they are who we thought they were.
