National Football League

Brian Flores' lawsuit places spotlight on NFL hiring practices

Updated Feb. 2, 2022 3:23 p.m. ET

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Brian Flores is suing the NFL.

The former Miami Dolphins head coach included the league, his former team, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos in a class-action suit that accused each of racial discrimination in hiring practices.

As part of his suit, Flores alleged the Giants misled him regarding their coaching plans for next season, and that they'd already made their hiring decision prior to interviewing, as evidenced by a text message exchange with Patriots coach Bill Belichick. 

Flores also accused the Broncos of conducting a "sham" interview with him in 2019 prior to his hiring by Miami and alleged Dolphins' owner Stephen Ross asked him to lose games during his first season with $100,000 incentives per lost game.

The NFL released a statement saying that it would defend itself against Flores' claims, which it said were "without merit."

For FOX Sports' Chris Broussard, Flores' suit is a powerful statement.

"I'm proud of what he did –– it was a strong power move," Broussard said Wednesday on "First Things First."

"And unfortunately it was totally necessary. It has been proven time and time again –– not just in football, but in many aspects of society –– that some whites will not hire African-Americans in fair or representative numbers unless they're forced to. It is utterly ridiculous that in a league that is 70% African-American as far as players, that [one of 32 head coaches is black]. There's a happy medium, and it's not 2 or 3%.

Nick Wright also pointed to those statistics in his assessment of Flores' suit.

"If you woke up tomorrow, and half of the head coaches in the NHL were black, would that strike you as a little odd?" Wright questioned. "The league is 2% black, and half the head coaches are black? Would you think, 'Well there must be some type of sustained effort?' Of course, you would. But that's exactly what's happening in the NFL on a statistical basis. 

" … The hiring cycles have gotten whiter and whiter, not more diverse."

Colin Cowherd expressed similar concerns on "The Herd."

Colin Cowherd on Brian Flores' lawsuit

Former head coach Brian Flores is suing the NFL, the Miami Dolphins, the Denver Broncos, and the New York Giants, alleging racial discrimination.

"If you feel hopeless, there's only two things you can do: You can quit or you can fight," Cowherd said.

"Brian Flores said, ‘It’s who I am, I'm going to fight.' Black coaches are at their wits' end. The Giants had disaster after disaster. Wouldn't you think, ‘Let’s hire somebody who's been a head coach?' And there's this guy in Florida, who's winning with a bad owner, a bad roster, and a below-average quarterback, which is virtually impossible in the NFL."

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Chris Broussard

Nick Wright

Colin Cowherd

The Herd with Colin Cowherd

First Things First