There’s no guarantee that regardless of how good of a defense Brian Flores develops – shoot, the Minnesota Vikings could win a Super Bowl with the No. 1-ranked unit in the league – that he will ever land another job as an NFL head coach.
Sure, Flores, 45, interviewed for the top jobs with the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers during the most recent hiring cycle, but we’re talking about the NFL.
Black coaches were 0-for-10 during the 2026 cycle and 1-for-17 in landing the most prominent coaching jobs over the past two cycles.
My gut suggests that, given the arc of the track record, the biggest footprint the Vikings defensive coordinator will leave on NFL history will come with the landmark discrimination lawsuit he filed in 2022 against the league and four of its teams rather than as a championship coach.
That’s no knock on Flores’ immense coaching chops. And I hope my pessimism fades. Prove me wrong, NFL. Yet having witnessed so many Black coaches over the years get bypassed – from Terry Robiskie, Sherman Lewis and Ted Cottrell in a previous generation, to Leslie Frazier, Vance Joseph and Eric Bienemy, and then some – the idea of Flores being the trigger for hauling the NFL and some of its teams into court to address allegations of systemic racism would be some kind of legacy.
More from Jarrett Bell: Years after Sherman Lewis, Black NFL coaches face familiar journey
Flores moved a step closer to that possibility on Tuesday with the non-action from the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court revealed that it won’t review the NFL’s appeal of a lower court ruling that allows Flores to pursue his case in open court with the class-action suit, joined by plaintiffs Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, rather than being forced into arbitration with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell empowered as the potential arbitrator.
“The NFL must now accept that its commissioner cannot be the arbitrator over discrimination claims against the league and its teams,” David Gottlieb, a partner at Wigdor Law, said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. “We look forward to litigating these claims in court.”
The counterstatement from NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy: “We respect the Supreme Court’s decision not to grant review. Regardless of the forum, we are fully prepared to defend ourselves as this matter proceeds.”
NFL progress often comes in court
Nothing moves the needle with NFL owners quite like open court. That’s how franchise moves were enabled by Al Davis. How liberalized free agency happened with the Freeman McNeil and Reggie White cases. How the $765 million concussion settlement unfolded.
Now, given all the attention, league-wide initiatives, questionable hiring patterns over the years, and a Rooney Rule that was formulated in 2003 after the hint of a potential class-action lawsuit on behalf of Black coaches existed with energy from high-powered attorneys Johnnie L. Cochran and Cyrus Mehri, it seems fitting that there’s a more substantial path to the courtroom.
Let the process play out in the open, rather than behind the closed doors of arbitration. Discovery. Depositions. Evidence. Witnesses on the stand. The whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“There’s a long time between now and a trial,” N. Jeremi Duru, director of the Sport & Society Initiative at American University Washington College of Law, told USA TODAY Sports. “Yet this case can be continued on that long track.”
More: Supreme Court hands Brian Flores win in discrimination suit vs. NFL. What's next?
Brian Flores vs. NFL: Supreme Court decision not a surprise
Duru wasn’t surprised by the decision announced on Tuesday, estimating the U.S. Supreme Court denies hearings for about 95% of the cases it is presented. He also maintained that the ruling from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that the Supreme Court left intact is geographically restrictive, albeit that New York, where the NFL is headquartered, is situated in the district.
The individual teams named as defendants – Flores’ allegations involve the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and New York Giants (allegations against the Miami Dolphins, which Flores previously coached, were forced into arbitration), while Horton’s allegations involve the Tennessee Titans and for Wilks, the Arizona Cardinals – conceivably extend to multiple appeals courts.
And Duru, who authored the definitive book on the formation of the Rooney Rule and the aftermath (Advancing the Ball: Race, Rhetoric and the Quest for Equal Coaching Opportunity in the NFL, Oxford U. Press), warned of various legal maneuvers that the NFL will likely employ as it has been aggressive at every turn in its legal defense.
Still, more than four years since Flores filed his suit, the chances the case will be heard in open court seem more likely than at any point in the process, given the SCOTUS decision.
Remember, Flores’ case includes his allegation that the Giants conducted a “sham” interview with him in 2022 after the team had already decided on Brian Daboll as its coach. How did Flores conclude it was a sham? He received a congratulatory text from his former boss, Bill Belichick, who allegedly thought he was texting another of his former assistants named Brian Daboll.
Upon filing his suit, Flores described the “humiliation” of his Giants interview.
And no, the Giants were never found to be in any violation of the Rooney Rule.
Ray Horton vs. NFL, Titans court case details
Part of Horton’s case includes an alleged admission from former Titans coach Mike Mularkey, during a 2020 podcast, that the biggest regret from his coaching career was that he was promised the Titans job while Horton and Teryl Austin, two Black candidates, were still in the interview process, presumably to comply with the Rooney Rule requiring that minorities must be interviewed.
The Titans denied wrongdoing and were never disciplined by Goodell, yet it’s fishy enough against the backdrop of this history: In more than two decades, there’s been just one case where a team or club official was disciplined for violating the Rooney Rule. And former Detroit Lions GM Matt Millen wasn’t even punished by Goodell; then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue dropped the hammer.
And it struck me as suspect, too, that Goodell investigated but didn’t punish Raiders owner Mark Davis for violating the Rooney Rule in hiring Jon Gruden in 2018.
Explanation for such episodes beg for exposure under testimony in open court.
That’s why Flores’ suit is so crucial, a potential game-changer for a topic that despite recent attacks on DEI, has been a constant source of discussion – and frustration – in the NFL ecosystem.
As so many other measures to facilitate equal opportunity stalled, somebody from the coaching ranks had to courageously take the battle against the NFL to court. And Flores is that man.
“It’s important for people to raise concerns about racial discrimination and have those claims heard and not automatically dismissed,” Duru said.
When Flores filed his suit, shortly after he was fired by the Dolphins, some suspected that he was sacrificing his career.
As it turns out, he quickly landed on Mike Tomlin’s staff with the Steelers, albeit overqualified as linebackers coach. The following year he landed with the Vikings, where he built one of the NFL’s best defenses and has emerged as a perceived head coach candidate.
“The most significant piece of this is that Brian brought this suit, and a month later was employed by a club in the league,” Duru said. “There was a time when the sense was that if you bring a racial discrimination case, it’s over. Your career is over.”
It’s a different time for Flores, who undoubtedly took one for the team, so to speak, and survived. Yet maybe the biggest victories are yet to come.
Contact Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brian Flores vs. NFL discrimination case: Lawsuit could bring relief for Black coaches
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