On the first day of Black History Month, former head coach Brian Flores dropped a bomb on the sports world. Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL accusing the league of racial discrimination in their hiring practices, a problem that has persisted since the league’s inception.

The 58-page suit goes in-depth on the statistics of black representation in NFL front offices, Flores’ experiences with the Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and Miami Dolphins, and goes over a brief history of racism within the NFL.

Based on this year’s hiring cycle, Brian Flores may never be a head coach in the NFL again. He was among the finalists for the Houston Texans’ head coaching position, but once the lawsuit was released, the Texans shifted to interview and eventually hired assistant head coach Lovie Smith. Flores released this statement after the hiring:

“Mr. Flores is happy to hear that the Texans have hired a Black head coach, Lovie Smith, as Mr. Flores’ goal in bringing his case is to provide real opportunities for Black and minority candidates to be considered for coaching and executive positions within the NFL. However, we would be remiss to not mention that Mr. Flores was one of three finalists for the Texans’ head coach position and, after a great interview and mutual interest, it is obvious the only reason Mr. Flores was not selected was his decision to stand up against racial inequality across the NFL.”

Ironically, the NFL cemented Flores’ argument through this year’s head coaching cycle. Of the nine open positions, only two were filled by people of color; the Miami Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel, who identifies as multiracial, and the Houston Texans hired Lovie Smith, who is Black.

Furthermore, Lovie Smith was only interviewed after Flores’ lawsuit. The Texans were fixated and, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, strongly considering the candidacy of Josh McCown, a former journeyman quarterback.

It is important to mention that, although 70 percent of the players in the National Football League are Black, there are currently five head coaches of color, and only two are Black.

Earlier this year, Brian Flores was surprisingly fired from the Miami Dolphins. In the last 20 years, the Dolphins have had six winning seasons: two of them occurred the last two seasons under Flores, according to profootballreferece.com The team seemed to be heading in a positive direction, with the only question mark being at the quarterback spot.

In the lawsuit, Brian Flores details his first encounters with Miami owner Stephen Ross, claiming that he had been offered an extra $100,000 for every game that the Dolphins lost to tank and receive a higher draft pick. 

The Dolphins were hoping to draft their current quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, though Flores had pushed for a trade to acquire Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow.

Flores also accused Ross of tampering. The former coach was invited by the owner to a party to help persuade a prominent quarterback. Flores’ repeated refusals, and his preference of Burrow over Tagovailoa, caused him to be “ostracized” from the organization and eventually fired.

Before he was hired in Miami, Brian Flores interviewed for the Denver Broncos’ head coaching position in 2019. He claims that General Manager John Elway arrived an hour late to the interview. 

Flores believes the interview was a sham and was only conducted to comply with the Rooney Rule, a rule stating that teams must interview at least one person of color before hiring a head coaching candidate.

More recently, during this year’s hiring cycle and before the lawsuit was released, Flores was scheduled to be interviewed by the New York Giants. A few days before, he and Patriots coach Bill Belichick were texting back and forth, and Belichick revealed that the Giants loved Brian’s interview and were planning to hire him.

However, Flores had not been interviewed yet. Belichick thought he had been talking to Brian Daboll who had already interviewed before Flores, meaning that Flores’ upcoming interview was once again another sham. One of the messages from Belichick headlines the lawsuit:

“Sorry – I f--ed this up. I double checked and misread the text. I think. They are naming Brian Daboll. I’m sorry about that. BB,” Belichick said.

Flores was lauded league-wide for his bravery to speak out, though it is very likely that, similar to Colin Kaepernick, he may never be a head coach in the NFL again.