Why Brian Flores Still Deserves a Coaching Position in the NFL

Drew Gray '23

Brian Flores absolutely deserves to be a coach in the NFL. Here’s why:

First of all, I am still in awe of his firing from the Dolphins. He led Miami to two straight winning seasons, following a 5-11 season in his rookie head coaching season. During these two most recent years, the Dolphins have been in Wild Card contention and although mediocre, have beaten teams that are just as good if not better than them. Generally, in spite of a rough first season, Flores was making progress towards a potential playoff berth. After hearing he was let go, I was dumbfounded. However, after hearing about the recent news surrounding the former coach, it now makes slightly more sense. 

Although I have yet to find clarity on Flores’ Miami firing, I now understand why he wasn’t hired by two teams with head coaching vacancies: the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants. According to ESPN, Flores filed a lawsuit against the aforementioned two teams and Miami for “racism in hiring practices”. After reading this, I really wasn’t sure what to think. Sure, if proven true, Flores has an extremely valid argument against the uphill climb that he supposes was he was up against in order to be a head coach. As an African American coach, he should feel obligated to stand up for his race, his culture, and his ethnicity. Racism is a prevalent issue in our society today and when you claim people have these biases, it is a serious accusation. But through a different lense, one could look at his lawsuit as a cover up, an excuse for his firing.

Overall, it still remains to be seen whether or not Flores’ lawsuit is the truth or not. Although there has yet to be a settlement between these NFL teams and the former Patriots defensive coordinator, I fully expect this conflict to be resolved soon. 

As I said before, the qualifications are not what Brian Flores lacks. Outside of his first season as head coach in Miami, he has been mostly successful in his work. The teams he has coached on have had a similar philosophy: defense leads to offense. As a coordinator here in New England, he served as a key part of Coach Belichick’s defensive scheme and their Super Bowl wins in recent years.

For these many reasons, Brian Flores should still be an NFL head coach.

Sources:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/index.htm

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33194862/brian-flores-sues-nfl-others-former-miami-dolphins-coach-alleges-racism-hiring-practices