Brian Flores’ firing shocked everyone, especially since the team had been winning under his tenure.
After cleaning house in year one, the Dolphins went 10-6 and 9-8 in his next two seasons. Even more importantly, they had acquired significant draft capital, drafted a future star in Jaylen Waddle and were poised to make a playoff run in 2022.
But then Flores was fired and in stepped Mike McDaniel, the hot name offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers.
Despite Flores being alleged to be the hot name in the head coaching hiring process in January, Black coaches, including Flores, were shut out of the process.
They went an embarrassing 0-8, with only the Houston Texans still remaining.
In response, he filed a scathing lawsuit in federal court on the first day of Black History Month, in which he blasted the NFL hiring practices, calling out the NFL, Dolphins, Broncos and Giants in particular. Only then was Lovie Smith hired by the Texans.
The filing of his lawsuit, most agree, severely hampered, and most likely ended, his chances of being hired as a head coach again in the NFL.
But then Mike Tomlin and the Steelers stepped in.
Tomlin, the longest tenured and winningest Black coach in NFL history, recognized Flores was in football purgatory.
Flores was talented and qualified, but NFL ownership didn’t want someone who could potentially force the disclosure of the NFL’s dark secrets as the face of their franchise.
And those secrets are definitely there, the Jon Gruden email incident is proof positive.
Tomlin wouldn’t allow Flores to languish. He didn’t deserve that fate for standing up for a cause that had merit.
So he brought him to Pittsburgh as the team’s senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach.
Flores is vastly overqualified for the role, but brotherhood would not let Flores go out like that.
“I wanted to stay close to Brian when his legal issues started,” said Tomlin recently. “I just didn’t want him to feel like he was on an island. From a coaching fraternity standpoint, I owed him that. I was in a position to provide that.”
Tomlin’s recent revelation about Flores’ hiring is so important to note, particularly in a league that is so unforgiving and exclusionary.
Brian Flores would probably have sat on the sidelines for years while other coaches with less talent stepped on and over him.
This isn’t a far-fetched notion. Ask Colin Kaepernick.
Flores won’t be a lower-level coach though. According to Tomlin, he’ll assist in many different ways.
Flores has already joined him on Pro Days and has helped him evaluate talent across the college landscape.
He’s only 41 and was only three years into his head coaching career, so he has time to return to that path.
Unfortunately, that won’t happen until his lawsuit is settled.
And according to Pro Football Talk, two new, unnamed plaintiffs have agreed to join the lawsuit as well, so it might take a while.
Knowing the spiteful ways of NFL owners, particularly when it comes to giving Black coaches a second opportunity as head coaches, the chances of that happening are razor slim.
But Tomlin wasn’t going to let Flores get lost in the weeds of the forgotten Black coaches, so he brought him under his wing to ensure he has a better opportunity at a second chance.
This is why it’s so important to have Black coaches and executives in positions of power.
There are now two Black head coaches in the NFL, and there could be a Black NFL owner this year.
While we wait for those odds to improve, let’s give Mike Tomlin props for looking out for a brother.
