PITTSBURGH — Because of his racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, fired Dolphins coach Brian Flores said he understands he might be risking getting another job in the league, despite having back-to-back winning seasons in Miami.
But, as we have learned from Flores alleging Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every game he purposely lost — or tanked — to better Miami's draft position, nothing should come as a surprise. Not anymore.
Regardless of the ethical impropriety, charges of blackballing or collusion by team owners is not uncommon in professional sports. Three years ago, the NFL settled a collusion case brought by players Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, who claimed owners had blackballed them from signing with another team because of their kneeling protests against the national anthem.
Granted, there are no charges of collusion in Flores' case (not yet, anyway) because his future fate in the league has not been determined. He was still getting interviews as a potential head coach or defensive coordinator candidate. But how the league's owners handle this situation could eventually create a bigger problem than what already exists.
It might be understandable a team does not want to hire Flores right now, not because of color or qualification but because he has a brought a lawsuit against the very league in which that team and 31 others are members. He has specifically implicated three teams — the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos — in his lawsuit. Each of those teams has vehemently denied the charges Flores has leveled.
However, for no team to hire Flores in some capacity — and to ignore the resume he has built the past two seasons with the Dolphins — would only further Flores' claim of the racial inequality that exists with Black or minority candidates.
The NFL has already dismissed Flores' claims as being "without merit," a quick rush-to-judgment from a league that should have learned its lesson from its mishandling of the Ray Rice episode. Instead of the league that whole-heartedly claims to embrace the Rooney Rule saying it takes such matters seriously and will look into Flores' claims, its hurried response could be an indication of just how the league's owners might handle this situation.
How NFL owners proceed from here will be watched by every minority coach and player in the league. Flores might be right. He might be risking future employment in the NFL with his lawsuit.
But the league will bring even more awareness to the problem if Flores doesn't get another job.
Either way, nobody should be surprised. Not anymore.
Memories of Tomlin's hiring
When the Steelers were interviewing candidates to replace Bill Cowher as head coach in 2007, they had narrowed their search to two internal candidates — offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm — and two candidates from outside the organization — Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin.
Of the finalists, Tomlin was the only one who did not play in the NFL. He had been a coordinator for just one season with the Vikings and was considered the long shot to replace Cowher. Meanwhile, Whisenhunt was in demand from other NFL teams, being offered the head coach positions with the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals (for whom he eventually coached).
But a short conversation with Steelers president Art Rooney II one day during the interview process always stuck with me.
As we were walking through the parking lot outside the team's South Side facility, he said, unsolicited, "You know who was very impressive? That Mike Tomlin."
More than a year later, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said much the same thing when he recalled interviewing Tomlin, then an assistant at the University of Cincinnati, to become the Bucs' secondary coach in 2001.
"You could feel the room come alive," Kiffin said.
That's what happened with the Steelers, too.
The point of all this?
At a time when the hiring process of NFL teams has come under fire, keep in mind why coaches go through the interview process — you never know which owner or general manager you are going to impress, Or, in Tomlin's case, blow away.
