Brian Flores is right to be upset that the Miami Dolphins fired him after the way the team performed, but his discontent with the NFL’s hiring process seems to have gone a bit too far.
Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams on Tuesday. In it, he accuses two teams of conducting “sham” interviews with him just to satisfy the Rooney Rule. One of those teams is the New York Giants. Text messages that Flores received from Bill Belichick (see them here) appeared to show that the Giants had decided they were hiring Brian Daboll as their head coach but still interviewed Flores afterwards.
Flores is unhappy that the Giants even spoke with Belichick. He said in an interview on Thursday that back channel conversations should not influence coaching hires.
Brian Flores tells @NPR back channel convos influence hires.
“It was clear to me (Giants) decision was made with (Belichick) influence. That's part of the problem. That needs to change. There needs to be a fair and equal opportunity to interview and showcase your abilities.”
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) February 3, 2022
That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Daboll, like Flores, used to work under Belichick in New England. Checking references and gathering background information on a candidate is very standard practice in any hiring process. Belichick also happens to be one of the best coaches in NFL history. Why on earth would the Giants not seek his opinion on a coach that used to work for him?
The Giants have strongly refuted the allegations from Flores. They claim they have “concrete and objective evidence” that they did not decide to hire Daboll until the day after they met with Flores. They also say they have proof that their interest in Flores was legitimate. The Giants insist the text exchange between Flores and Belichick is not evidence of anything.
Flores is suing for discrimination. It is going to be extremely difficult for his legal team to prove that seeking input from a head coaching candidate’s former employer is evidence of discrimination.
Photo: Dec 19, 2021; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores runs off the field after winning the game against the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
