Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores made a series of public appearances on Wednesday for the first time since filing a historic class-action lawsuit against the NFL and several teams alleging racial discrimination in the league's hiring practices.
Among the allegations in the suit, which was submitted by Wigdor LLC to the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, is a text exchange purportedly between Flores and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Flores, who previously worked as an assistant under Belichick, claims that New England's coach accidentally told him that the Giants had already chosen Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for the job, three days before Flores was set to interview for the position.
In an appearance on CNN’s New Day, the ex-Dolphins head coach explained how the text messages made him feel like the interview didn't matter. The lawsuit claims that the texts from Belichick are evidence that the interview with the Giants was “a sham.”
“It was humiliating to be quite honest,” Flores said of his feelings when reading the messages. “There was disbelief, there was anger, there was a wave of emotions for a lot of reasons...
“Is this real? Am I wasting my time? But, look, I just put my best foot forward. That’s what I've always done. ... I’ve been a long shot my entire life. So I figured I’d put my best foot forward and interview to the best of my ability, but there was also this sliver of hope that I had. Maybe I'm naive to what really goes on behind the scenes.”
Flores confirmed that Belichick, whom he worked with from 2008 to '18, was unaware that he was planning to file the lawsuit. He also revealed that the two have not spoken since the suit was filed.
The Giants said in a statement that they were “pleased and confident” with their hiring process, claiming that Flores was “in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour.” The NFL also addressed the lawsuit, saying “diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.”
Flores, 40, was fired by the Dolphins following a 9–8 season in 2021. In three years with the franchise, he posted a 24–25 record.
Flores remains in the running for the coaching jobs with the Saints and Texans. However, he told CNN that he would not drop the lawsuit if he was offered either of the two positions.
