Brian Flores Declines to Comment on 'Ongoing' Lawsuit Against NFL
One interesting subplot to Brian Flores' introduction as the Vikings' defensive coordinator is that the former Dolphins head coach still has an active lawsuit against the NFL.
A little over a year ago, not long after being fired by the Dolphins, Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the league and several of its franchises alleging racial discrimination in hiring practices. Included in the lawsuit are claims that the Giants decided to hire Brian Daboll as head coach before Flores' interview with the franchise and that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross pressured him to intentionally lose games, among other pieces of evidence.
Former Cardinals head coach and current 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and longtime NFL assistant coach Ray Horton also joined the lawsuit, which seeks damages and changes to the league's hiring practices for coaching and executive positions.
At his introductory press conference in Minnesota on Wednesday, Flores declined to comment on the lawsuit outside of confirming that it is "ongoing."
"I understand the question," Flores said. "I do. Specific to the lawsuit, I'm not going to dive too deep into it. It's ongoing. Professionally, I'm a coach. I’m a teacher. This is what I love to do. ... That's what I was put here to do, is to coach and to teach and to make an impact, and that's where my focus always is. Obviously diversity is important to me as well. Not going to run away from that. But when I walk in this building, you see diversity really across the board in every department. That's exciting too. Those are things that are ongoing. Obviously the lawsuit is ongoing. I'm where my feet are, and right now my feet are right here in Eagan."
It'll be interesting to see if the lawsuit reaches any sort of resolution this year. Flores has interviewed for head coach positions in each of the last two years and dropped out of the running for the Cardinals' HC vacancy to take the Vikings' DC job. He might again be a head coach candidate in a year's time.
Flores press conference coverage
- Brian Flores Says 'Gut Feeling' Led Him to Join the Minnesota Vikings as DC
- Brian Flores: Vikings' Defense Will Be Aggressive, Physical, But Not Reckless
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