‘That’s part of the sacrifice.’ Former Dolphins coach Flores talks lawsuit, Tua, more
Brian Flores said he did not sign a separation agreement upon his firing from the Dolphins, which is preventing him from collecting money from the final two years of his contract as he pursues a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL.
“That’s part of the sacrifice,” Flores said in an interview on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, which featured former NFL wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Chad Johnson and Sun Sentinel columnist Omar Kelly.
The hour-long interview released Monday was conducted before Flores was introduced Saturday as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach.
When hired as Dolphins coach in February 2019, Flores signed a fully guaranteed five-year contract. Signing the separation agreement would have given him a payout for the remaining two years on his contract, Flores said, but would have prevented him from pursuing his lawsuit, which lists the NFL, Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos as defendants.
“It’s kind of written in to, I would say, in a lot of cases silence players, coaches, whoever, from bringing some of this to light,” Flores said. “... That’s part of the sacrifice. That’s part of the risk to get this out in the open. This is important. This is a lot more important than money.”
Flores’ lawsuit accuses the league of racial discrimination in its hiring and firing process and Flores also claims Dolphins owner Stephen Ross incentivized tanking, offering $100,000 per loss during the 2019 season. Ross has denied those allegations and commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will investigate those claims.
Ross and the NFL have also hired lawyers to prepare their defense against Flores’ allegations.
“I think my white counterparts wouldn’t have been asked to do the things I was asked to do,” Flores said.
Asked about the timing of filing the lawsuit, which occurred on the first day of Black History Month and when Flores was still interviewing for multiple head coaching opportunities, he said, “I thought there was power in filing it right then.”
“The timing of it is, I wouldn’t say it was coincidental because everything happens for a reason,” Flores said. “I felt there was power in the world knowing that I was going to put all of it on the line. That’s how important is it to me. And that’s how important it is to a lot of people. ...
“There was a point where I went back and forth: ‘I know what I’m risking. I know what I may be sacrificing.’ But there was a point there where I’m talking to my wife and saying, ‘I’m not going to be able to live with myself if we don’t file this lawsuit.’ I’m going to have so many regrets not because of me but because of everyone that comes behind me.”
In another clip shared to social media before Monday that did not make the final edit of the video, Flores also commented on his relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
“This is an interesting topic because it wasn’t strained. We had a good relationship,” Flores said. “It was a player-coach relationship and I think in a relationship like that, the coach challenges the player. And oftentimes, the player challenges the coach. And I think there was a great deal of respect between the two of us.
“You hear this kind of narrative that’s out there. But this is a young man who works, who developed and got better over two years and I think he’s got a bright future. And I wish him all the best. The world can think what it wants to think. Ask Tua. And I’m here to say what I’ve got to say and you can ask him. I think he’d say the same thing.”
Questions persisted about Tagovailoa’s standing with the organization and his relationship with Flores amid months-long reports the Dolphins were interested in trading for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. And a source confirmed to the Miami Herald that angry words were exchanged between the two during the Week 17 loss to the Tennessee Titans that eliminated the Dolphins from playoff contention. Flores was furious with how Tagovailoa was playing and let him know. Tagovailoa resented Flores’ tone and his way of talking to people.
A very close associate of Tagovailoa said their working relationship was generally fine and that Tagovailoa doesn’t dislike Flores. The associate added the two could have continued working together and that the Tennessee incident wasn’t uncommon in the NFL during the heat of a poor performance.
Flores’ lawyers said Saturday that he would not stop pursuing the lawsuit despite being hired by the Steelers. A pretrial conference is scheduled for March 18.
“I’m gifted and I’m here to coach and I’m here to make an impact,” Flores said. “I think this [the lawsuit] is my impact now. This is where I’m going to make an impact, for Black, for brown, for women and minorities, so that they’re not dealing with unfair practices and situations [where] they’re not getting a fair and equal opportunity to get into these leadership opportunities that they’re more than qualified and more capable of doing an incredible job at.”
Barry Jackson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 21, 2022 at 2:45 PM.
