Former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores says race played a role in his firing

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said that his race played a role in his initial firing by the football team. 

During an appearance on the “I Am Athlete” podcast published Tuesday, Flores said that he was given tasks by the team that he thought wouldn’t be given to a white head coach. 

Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams — the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos — earlier this month alleging racial discrimination in their hiring practices. 

In his 58-page lawsuit, Flores also alleged that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross attempted to pay him more to purposely lose games during the 2019 season, with Ross offering him $100,000 for every loss that year. 

“I think race played a role in my firing,” Flores told the hosts, former NFL wide receivers Chad Johnson and Brandon Marshall and South Florida Sun Sentinel reporter Omar Kelly. “What I mean by that is there were things I was asked to do. There were conversations that were had. I was made out to be a difficult person to work with. I think my white counterparts wouldn’t have been asked to do the things I was asked to do.”

Flores also told the hosts that league owners will hire coaches who reflect what they see in themselves. 

“There’s a change of heart that needs to happen,” Flores said. “We’ve got to open our minds up.”

Flores was hired over the weekend to be a senior defensive assistant for the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to The Associated Press. Pittsburgh’s head coach is Mike Tomlin, one of the four active Black head coaches in the league, the AP noted. 

The league and the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos have all denied claims from Flores’s lawsuit, which has created a firestorm within the league and gained national media attention. 

The NFL also hired former Justice Department Attorney General Loretta Lynch last week as a counsel for its lawsuit against Flores. 

“Yes. The league retained the Paul Weiss firm to represent the league and named clubs,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told The Hill. “Loretta Lynch and Brad Karp will lead the defense.”