PITTSBURGH — In a sit-down interview that will air Tuesday night on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," new Steelers assistant coach Brian Flores spoke for the first time about how his addition to Mike Tomlin's staff came about.
Flores, whose hire as senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach was announced Saturday, tells Gumbel that "it all happened very fast" between himself and Tomlin, who promoted Teryl Austin to defensive coordinator from a similar position. According to Flores, he talked to Tomlin last Thursday, then a little bit more the next day, and ended up accepting the job Friday evening.
"I actually was calling 'Coach T,' really, to get some counsel," Flores said in an excerpt of the episode provided by HBO. "I was thinking about the next steps for me just from a coaching standpoint. And then that conversation turned into an opportunity there in Pittsburgh."
In the conversation, Gumbel also asks Flores if he believes that Tomlin threw him "a lifeline" in light of the lawsuit he filed against the NFL and three teams earlier this month. Flores discusses that suit, his relationship with his former boss in New England, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, and more. The show will air at 10 p.m. on HBO and segments generally last between 10 and 20 minutes.
