MOBILE, Ala. — Robert Saleh admitted the NFL’s hiring process is problematic.
Still, he is optimistic that landscape will improve even amid the latest bombshell: Brian Flores’ recently filed class-action lawsuit accusing the NFL, the Dolphins — who fired him after a 9-8 season, his second-consecutive winning record in Miami — the Broncos and the Giants of racial discrimination in their hiring practices.
“I could sit here for hours and talk about our experiences here with the Jets and what we try to do,” Saleh said during a media interview at the Senior Bowl Wednesday, “but I do think with the leadership of Troy Vincent and all the different people at the NFL office, I know they’re working diligently to try to rectify and thrust minorities into prominent roles.
“Is it tough right now? For sure, but I know the NFL is trying hard and eventually it’s going to get there.”
The Jets head coach is Lebanese and is the first Muslim American head coach in the NFL. He doesn’t immediately relate to Flores’ dilemma — Flores in his lawsuit accused the Broncos and Giants of “sham” interviews to fulfill the Rooney Rule requirements of interviewing minority candidates during a head coaching search. He does, however, support Flores.
“Just from my interactions with ‘B-Flo,’ he’s a phenomenal coach,” Saleh said. “Always gives us a headache, anywhere he’s ever been, and he’s a stand-up guy to talk to, pregame and postgame. I really appreciate all the interactions that I’ve had with him. He’s a really, really good man.”
Flores was fired by the Dolphins on Jan. 10, less than a month after the conclusion of their season. After he was fired, the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin remained the league’s only Black head coach.
“In certain critical ways, the NFL is racially segregated and is managed much like a plantation,” the lawsuit charged. “Its 32 owners — none of whom are Black — profit substantially from the labor of NFL players, 70% of whom are Black.
“The racial discrimination has only been made worse by the NFL’s disingenuous commitment to social equity.”
