Brian Flores was fired by the Dolphins in January after Miami finished with a 9-8 record. Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Giants deny lawsuit claims, say Brian Flores was candidate 'until the 11th hour'

By Adam Stites | Last updated 2/1/22

Shortly after news broke that Brian Flores filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the NFL alleging racial discrimination, the New York Giants denied claims that they arranged a sham interview with the former Miami Dolphins coach to comply with the league's Rooney Rule.

"We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll," the Giants said in a statement, via Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports. "We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour. Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our head coach."

The lawsuit contains screenshots that allegedly show a text-message conversation with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. In the texts, Belichick mistakenly believes he's texting Brian Daboll and congratulates the coach on getting the Giants' head-coaching job, despite Flores still being days away from interviewing for the position.

Last week, Mr. Flores was reportedly a front-runner for the @Giants head coach position. He thought he had a real shot at it—until he received these texts from @Patriots head coach Bill Belichick just days before his interview, the lawsuit states. pic.twitter.com/2RWTpVeghi
— WigdorLaw (@WigdorLaw) February 1, 2022

The Rooney Rule was adopted in 2003 and requires every team to interview at least one minority candidate for a head-coaching vacancy. Flores says the texts with Belichick prove that the Giants interviewed him solely to comply with the rule, despite already deciding that Daboll would be their choice.

Flores, 40, was fired by the Dolphins in January after Miami finished with a 9-8 record. The NFL currently has only one Black head coach, Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers, after Flores and Houston Texans coach David Culley were both fired in January.

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