The NFL world was shocked back in February when former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores announced that he would be suing the NFL for racial discrimination in their hiring process after being fired by the Dolphins at the end of the 2021 season despite back-to-back winning seasons for the team.
Flores was then a candidate for numerous different teams as their head coach this offseason but an inadvertent text from Bill Belichick congratulating who he thought was Brian Daboll on getting the New York Giants head coaching job before Flores interviewed with the team led to the lawsuit.
He was ultimately not hired as a head coach and decided to join the Pittsburgh Steelers organization as a defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the team.
It was a huge get for the Steelers given Flores’ track record as a defensive mind, and head coach Mike Tomlin seemed to realize that when he spoke about the hiring on Sunday.
“I just didn’t want him to feel like he was on an island,” Tomlin told reporters on Sunday. “From a coaching fraternity standpoint, I owed that him that. I was in a position to provide that.”
“It really ran its course rather quickly, to be quite honest with you. Because it doesn’t require a lot of time to come to the realization that you can use a Brian Flores on your staff.”
“‘Senior defensive assistant and linebacker coach’ is his title, but there’s help that he’s going to help us and help me, in particular.” His contributions are going to be significant.”
Given the loss of legendary quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this offseason following his retirement, the team will need to have an impressive defense if they want to be competitive in 2022.
Flores should certainly play a big role in trying to do that next season.
[ESPN.com]
