'A Brave Thing': Ron Rivera Comments on Brian Flores Lawsuit
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the NFL for discriminatory hiring practices.
While there are many layers to the lawsuit that is just beginning to unfold, the primary reason for its attention sheds a light on other minority coaches' experiences with hiring processes.
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera is one of three non-white head coaches currently employed in the NFL.
During Rivera's conversation on "CBS This Morning" about the Commanders name change, the talk shifted towards Flores' lawsuit and Tony Doukopil questioned Rivera about his thoughts on the matter.
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"I think what Brian is doing is really a brave thing," Rivera said.
Rivera then began to talk about how Flores' lawsuit is bringing attention to a much wider issue that doesn't just involve him.
“If we really take a step back and look at it," Rivera said. "We would honestly say there are some things that we have to look even deeper into.”
The conversation then took a turn about Flores' impressive resume and how it should be enough to land him a coaching job in the NFL.
Flores, 40, has accomplished a lot in his career so far. With the New England Patriots, Flores won one Super Bowl as a scouting assistant and three as a defensive assistant, leading to the Dolphins hiring him after Super Bowl LIII.
In three seasons with the Dolphins, Flores compiled a 24-25 record and led the team to consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2002-03. Yet, despite his accomplishments, Flores was fired following a 9-8 season where the team won eight of its last nine games.
Rivera explained that Flores should be hired based on his merit and brought up the example of when he hired Jennifer King, the first Black woman to hold a position on an NFL coaching staff.
"I knew who Jennifer was, I understood what she wanted, and she got it, to me, based on her merit," Rivera said.
King's hiring is a sign that the NFL has made progress, but Flores' lawsuit proves that there is still a lot of progress left to be made.
