Brian Flores, fired head coach of the Miami Dolphins, is suing the NFL. Flores is Black. In a league with 32 teams, there is now but one Black head coach, Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here’s another statistic, and depending on the season, Black players comprise 60 percent to 70 percent of the players on the field.
If my numbers seem too “skewed,” here’s another: of the 32 teams, there are but 2 Black offensive coordinators.
And another obvious question: was Brian Flores a bust? When Flores took over, the Dolphins were an abysmal door mat; a laughing stock. Well, in 2021, the Dolphins went 9-8 and in 2020, they went 10-6. Some years, that is Wild Card football to say the least. There are white NFL coaches who, this very minute
Very Rich, Very Powerful
Virtually none of us finds themselves in the rarified air of heading an NFL ownership group. As I write this the Denver Broncos are up for sale. The price tag is a cool, $3 billion. And I get the value of franchises but the owners seem to have tunnel vision.
Speaking of the Broncos, they just replaced head coach Vic Fangio. After three seasons, his stellar record was 19-30! I’m not a mathematics scholar, but Flores won as many games in two seasons, as Fangio did in three.
The Broncos recently hired a new head coach. He is white. The hiring process seemed to have happened virtually overnight. Even I, not a Broncos fan per se, wondered why the process happened the way it happened especially when good candidates, exceptional candidates like Eric Bieniemy, who is Black, were at least available to talk.
Flores is suing the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and the NFL in a calm, businesslike manner (frankly, calmer and more business-like than I would be).
Why the Giants and Broncos? Because, it appears, that when Flores was asked to interview for those teams, both teams had allegedly already made the decision to hire white candidates. In the case of the NY Giants, Flores (who is Black and Hispanic) has proof. He can prove the discrimination by accessing a string of text messages already posted on Twitter. It is not a good look.
Now What?
Five NFL franchises still have head coaching vacancies: the New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. No one is forcing anyone to do anything (and clearly, that would be an unethical act in and of itself) however, it would be more than strange if no Black head coaching candidates were considered before a team had already made up its mind.
Said Jason Reid at ESPN (February 1, 2022):
“Regardless of whether Flores prevails in a court of law (he’ll have a high bar to clear, legal experts say), and assuming the text messages are authentic, Flores has laid bare what anyone who chooses to open their eyes would see: The NFL’s hiring practices are unfair.
It’s not that the playing field isn’t level for Black assistant coaches, it’s that Black assistants aren’t even on the field.”
There is an inherent risk in Flores taking a stance against the NFL and its powerful ownership groups. If the complaint and lawsuit never get off the ground, he stands a good chance of never coaching in the NFL again. On the other hand, if he is proven correct, the NFL will be forced to pay up and then deal with its racist demons. Fans must be open-minded in all directions. To “close-down” and simply say, “Let’s move on and play football,” is no solution to a seemingly obvious problem.
Ethically, I can’t get in the hearts or minds of any team owner. I can’t point out any open acts of racism or accuse anyone based on a perception of what I may believe happens behind closed doors. I just want to be satisfied in knowing if the NFL sees its hiring process through the lens of race. If it is proven, then they must act now.
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