We’ve written extensively about Brian Flores, from his time as a head coach of the Dolphins and his wrongful dismissal to his lawsuit against the NFL, his time with the Steelers and his current role as Vikings defensive coordinator, and one theme has always remained consistent throughout.
Brian Flores was right and the NFL did him wrong.
And on Tuesday, that was cemented again.
A memo written by consulting firm Korn Ferry was unsealed and it validated why Flores first filed his lawsuit on February 1st, 2022 despite the harm it would have on his chances of becoming an NFL head coach again.
The memo, for the Las Vegas Raiders, assessed Flores’ strengths and weakness as a head coach but instead it became a document laced in racist undertones and condescending statements.
Flores was praised for his defensive coaching talents and ability to design schemes and blitzes that gave opponents fits.
But on the same page, they took aim at his upbringing in the heavily Black and Latino community of Brownsville, Brooklyn.
“Polished and a good presenter despite growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn (same as Mike Tyson). He was able to build a strong friendship with a billionaire’s son which gave him opportunities to socialize and learn how to build relationships with white-collar and upper-class individuals,” wrote Korn Ferry.
“Despite growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn” is a direct attack on his family, his community and his skin color, the obvious assumption being that those from the area are incapable of literacy or professionalism.
Flores attended the elite private school, Poly Prep, in Brooklyn, which is where he, and every other student there, met classmates from wealthy families.
He was raised by immigrant parents from Honduras of Garifuna heritage, and they didn’t play about education. He and three of his brothers are all college graduates and Flores, who played football at, and graduated from Boston College, also has his masters in administrative studies.
So while he was raised and educated by Brownsville, he earned his academic degrees from a great high school and college.
Flores’ intellect in the classroom, film room and on the field had nothing to do with the upper-class people he met. He was a student of the game and excelled in that field of study as well.
Yet thanks to stereotypes and racist zingers like “despite growing up in Brownsville”, the intellect of Black people like Flores continue to be overlooked, doubted and dismissed.
The memo listed six positives and seven negatives about Flores, the latter including, “He can fool you with his polish upwards.”
That ignorance is akin to the disrespectful “he speaks so well” comment.
Front Office Sports, which first broke the story about the memo, spoke with Flores’ attorney’s about it.
“The recently unsealed documents demonstrate two unfortunate, but unsurprising, realities,” said Flores’ attorney Douglas H. Wigdor in a statement to FOS. “First, that Mr. Flores’ decision to hold the league and its teams accountable for systemic race discrimination has been met with unlawful retaliation. Second, discrimination continues to play a significant role in the hiring process for NFL Head Coaches, as evidenced by the fact that the candidate profile prepared for the Raiders leans heavily on racial stereotypes. We and Mr. Flores are committed to eradicating the institutional racism and retaliation that permeates the league, its teams and their partners.”
The racism that Flores and his team are challenging was on full display this past offseason when no Black head coach were hired despite there being 10 NFL head coaching vacancies, marking the fifth time that’s occurred (2008, 2010, 2013 and 2020) since the Rooney Rule was first implemented in 2003.
When Miami hired Flores in 2019, he inherited a team reeling from the horrid tenure of former head coach, Adam Gase.
In his three years at the helm, he dealt with a lack of talent and disputes with management over playing Tua Tagovailoa, yet persevered to become the Dolphins’ first coach since Dave Wannstedt to have two winning seasons (5-11, 10-6, 9-8).
But that wasn’t enough for management and he was fired in favor of Mike McDaniel, who’s now the offensive coordinator of the winless LA Chargers.
The memo also states Flores has a “chip on his shoulder” and “has little people skills”.
Flores is tough due his upbringing and life experiences, and that’s helped him be successful. But the memo would have you assume he’s just another “angry Black man” who isn’t capable of leading.
Brian Flores’ lawsuit claims “the NFL is racially segregated and is managed much like a plantation,” and he’s taken the league to task for race normed tests, its lack of Black team owners and coaches, how it dealt with people like Colin Kaepernick, Jim Caldwell, Steve Wilks, Ray Horton and David Culley and the Jon Gruden email scandal.
He’s provided proof of the league’s rigged and hypocritical hiring system and on Tuesday, his case was further strengthened by Korn Ferry’s memo.
“This is bigger than football. This is bigger than coaching,” said Flores on CBS This Morning the day after filing his lawsuit.
Four years later, that still holds true.
