Brian Flores Lands New NFL Job

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has been hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach, the team announced in a news release on their official website Saturday (February 19).

"I am excited about Brian Flores joining our coaching staff given his history of developing and teaching defensive players during his time in the NFL," Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said. "Brian's resume speaks for itself, and I look forward to him adding his expertise to help our team."

Flores took over as Miami's head coach in 2019 after spending 11 seasons as an assistant with the Patriots, which included winning four Super Bowl championships (XXXIX, XLIX, LI and LIII).

The 40-year-old went 24-25 during three seasons with the Dolphins, but appeared to be gaining momentum.

Miami finished the 2021 season with a 9-8 record having won eight of his last nine games following a disappointing 1-7 start, which made his termination in January the most surprising of any NFL head coach.

Flores, who is Black, filed a lawsuit on February 1 in Manhattan federal court against the NFL and three teams -- the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos -- alleging racial discrimination during their hiring processes, as well as claiming that Ross offered him $100,000 to per loss during the 2019 season in an effort to "tank" for the highest possible draft pick.

Tomlin was the NFL's only Black head coach at the time the lawsuit was filed, which occurred prior to the Houston Texans hiring Lovie Smith.

Flores appeared on the ESPN show Get Up earlier this month -- as well as several other outlets -- and addressed his claim that Ross offered additional compensation to lose games.

"That was a conversation about not doing as much as we needed to do in order to win football games," he said. "Take a flight, go on vacation, I'll give you $100,000 per loss -- those were his exact words. I deal in truth, I tell the players this, as well. I'm gonna give you good news, bad news -- but it's going to be honest.

"To disrespect the game like that, trust was lost, and there were certainly some strained relationships, and ultimately, I think that was my demise in Miami."

In the lawsuit, Flores said he interviewed for the then-vacant Giants head coaching job and found out three days prior to his interview that the franchise had instead decided on Brian Daboll, a White former colleague with the New England Patriots, after receiving a congratulatory text from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who he worked under for 11 seasons.

The NFL implements the "Rooney Rule" -- named after late former Steelers owner Dan Rooney -- which requires teams to interview minority coaching candidates for head coach, general manager and executive positions.

Flores' lawsuit accuses the Giants and Broncos of interviewing him solely to meet the "Rooney Rule" requirements while having already decided on White candidates -- with the Giants hiring Daboll and Denver hiring Nathaniel Hackett -- during the process.

The Steelers also recently promoted Teryl Austin, who has previously worked as a senior defensive assistant/secondary for the last three seasons, to defensive coordinator amid Keith Butler's retirement last month.