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- Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores is suing the NFL for alleged racism in the hiring process.
- Among his allegations, Flores claims that the New York Giants put him through a “sham” interview just to satisfy the Rooney Rule.
- Elway, the Broncos’ current President of Football Operations, strongly refuted Flores’ claims in an official statement.
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores rocked the sports world on Tuesday when news broke that he was suing the National Football League over allegations of racism in the hiring process.
Flores, who previously coached with the New England Patriots prior to his stint in Miami, alleged — among other things — that the New York Giants put him through a “sham” interview.
In his lawsuit, Flores provided alleged texts from Pats head coach Bill Belichick, who accidentally congratulated him on landing the Giants’ head coaching position before he even interviewed for the job. Belichick allegedly then admitted he meant to reach out to Brian Daboll, who did ultimately land the gig.
“It was a range of emotions,” Flores said on CBS Mornings on Wednesday. “Humiliation. Disbelief. Anger. I worked so hard to get where I am in football to become a head coach. To go in on what was a sham interview, I was hurt.”
Following his allegations, a bevy of figures that Flores has made allegations have responded, including the NFL (“We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.”) Broncos President of Football Operations John Elway, the Miami Dolphins and their owner Stephen Ross, and now the New York Giants, who have categorized Flores’ allegations as “disturbing and simply false.”
“The allegation that the Giants’ decision had been made prior to Friday evening, January 28, is false. And to base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he “thinks” Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible,” the Giants said in their statement.
“The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll’s in-person interview even took place. Giants’ ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point. In addition, Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick’s text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search.”
In addition to their statement, the Giants also made public Flores’ Itinerary from the day he interviewed:
Brian Flores Interview Itinerary – Head Football Coach
January 27, 2022
8:45am – arrival at Quest (Joe Schoen)
9:00am – meet w/ John Mara, Chris Mara, Steve Tisch, & Joe Schoen
12:00pm – Lunch / Facility Tour – Tim McDonnell
1:00pm – Pat Hanlon/Jen Escalante/Dion Dargin
1:45pm – Ronnie Barnes/Jessie Armstead
2:30pm – Allison Stangeby/Pete Guelli
3:30pm – Joe Schoen
The final sentence in the Giants’ statement, which can be read in full below, states that the decision to hire Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator was not made until January 28, the day after Flores’ interview.
“No decision was made, and no job offer was extended, until the evening of January 28, a full day after Mr. Flores’ in-person interview and day-long visit to the Giants,” the statement concluded.
New York Giants Statement About Brian Flores’ Allegations
Brian Flores has raised serious issues in the filing of his complaint. The specific claims against the Giants and Mr. Flores’ allegations about the legitimacy of his candidacy for our head coach position are disturbing and simply false.
After we interviewed six exceptional and diverse candidates, the decision on who we would hire as head coach was made on the evening of January 28, one day after Mr. Flores spent an entire day in our offices going through his second interview for the position, meeting with ownership and other staff members, and receiving a tour of our facility. (See the itinerary below). There is additional concrete and objective evidence to substantiate we did not make our decision until the evening of the 28th.
The allegation that the Giants’ decision had been made prior to Friday evening, January 28, is false. And to base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he “thinks” Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible. The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll’s in-person interview even took place. Giants’ ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point.
In addition, Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick’s text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search.
It has been well documented how much research and due diligence we did on Mr. Flores as it related to his candidacy. John Mara called Mr. Flores two days after he was dismissed in Miami. Mr. Mara expressed to Mr. Flores in that January 12 call that once we had our new general manager in place, we would begin the process of hiring our head coach and we wanted to meet with Mr. Flores because we considered him a serious candidate for the position. Mr. Mara and Mr. Flores then had their first formal conversation in a 25-30 minute zoom call on January 18 (at Mr. Flores’ request) to further discuss his candidacy.
In between those initial conversations and Mr. Flores’ in-person interview on January 27, there were several other communications between Mr. Flores and members of our organization. This included a dinner with our newly hired general manager, Joe Schoen, the night before Mr. Flores’s in-person interview. The consensus from within the Giants organization after this dinner remained that Mr. Flores was an outstanding candidate, and we looked forward to sitting down with him in person the next day.
Our hiring process and, most certainly, our consideration of Mr. Flores was serious and genuine. We are disappointed to learn that Mr. Flores was under the mistaken impression the job had already been awarded.
In his CBS interview yesterday, Mr. Flores was asked if “clubs have the right to hire the person they think is the best qualified for the job or the person they feel is right for them?” Mr. Flores responded “They do. That’s very reasonable to me . . .”. That is exactly what we did.
We hired Brian Daboll as our head coach at the conclusion of an open and thorough interview process. No decision was made, and no job offer was extended, until the evening of January 28, a full day after Mr. Flores’ in-person interview and day-long visit to the Giants.