Brian Flores, NFL coach hiring and systemic racism hiding in plain sight

For the past three seasons, football fans have become accustomed to hearing praise lavished on Brian Flores for his work as defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings.

The “Brian Flores Defense” has become a trademark that means creative, nonstop blitzes, perpetual attack mode. On the sidelines, Flores is an animated figure — edgy, intense, exhorting the defense to wreak mayhem.

The Vikings are undefeated, their defense is dominant, and fans almost forgot that Flores is suing the NFL. They got a reminder earlier this week, when the public learned that a recruiting report, prepared by the firm Korn Ferry for the Las Vegas Raiders during a recent coaching search, was unsealed as part of Flores’ discrimination suit against multiple NFL teams.

The report, first made public by Front Office Sports, included an assessment of Flores that revealed stereotypical thinking is alive and well.

After lauding Flores for his defensive acumen, the report said Flores was “polished and a good presenter.” The problem is that the platitudes were followed by a disparaging disclaimer: “despite growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn.”

The report commended Flores for cultivating a relationship with the son of a billionaire, which in turn allowed him opportunities to socialize and learn how to build relationships with white-collar and upper-class individuals. In other words, thanks to his proximity to whiteness, Flores was able to overcome his Black inner-city roots.

The report also said Flores “can fool you with his polish,” had little people skills, lacks self-awareness, and can sometimes exhibit “erratic behavior.” The assessment noted Flores could be a “dictator with players, coaches,” and could be “difficult with ownership.” It called Flores’ personality “unpredictable,” concluding he “needs someone strong at the top to reign [sic] in some of his worst behavior.”

For all of the excitement of the NFL season, the Vikings’ early success and praise heaped on Flores, the recruitment report reminds us why Flores, a former Miami Dolphins head coach, filed his class action suit in the first place. Filed in 2022, the suit attacks systemic racism. In an atmosphere of hostility toward diversity, equity and inclusion, and denials that systemic racism even exists, Flores’ suit argues that such racism does exist, perhaps more now than ever.

Recruitment reports are supposed to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of potential coaching candidates, and Flores has been criticized in the past for how he dealt with players while he was in Miami.

Atlanta Falcons backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who played in Miami under Flores, said the coach had a negative impact on his self-confidence. According to Tagovailoa, Flores repeatedly told him he didn’t belong it the NFL. Flores never apologized to Tagovailoa but did say there were things he could have done better in Miami.

But the issue here is stereotypes and double standards. For a white NFL head coach, being called a dictator and difficult is a badge of honor that speaks to toughness and commitment. For an African American candidate, those descriptions become a negative.

Who creates the standard, and are the standards applied to everyone? Black candidates often carry assumptions that would not be attached to their white counterparts.

The recruitment report said Flores was polished.

“Polished” is ordinarily a compliment, but the recruitment report said, “polished despite.” Polish was unexpected from a Black man from Brownsville. Brownsville, where roughly two-thirds of the population is Black and another 20% is Latino, was shorthand for a deficit.

Flores’ friendship with a wealthy white man allowed him to overcome his deficiencies and circulate in a white world. The search firm’s comments about Flores were not just about his acumen as a defensive coordinator, but about his background, where he came from, and how he was able to rise from a flawed upbringing and develop class and polish.

Whoever wrote the report will say in his or her own defense that the wording was not meant as a slur or to be hostile. Some of the other terms — “difficult,” “unpredictable,” or “needs someone strong to rein him in” — would be a positive reflection of a white candidate’s intensity, conviction, and high standards.

Who makes these determinations, and how do these subjective suppositions impact hiring decisions?

News of the recruitment report came a few days before a TV station in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported that a text thread among some Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers included a competition over who could pull over the Blackest drivers.

There is a connection between the search firm stereotyping a Black head coaching candidate and law enforcement targeting Black drivers.

In each case, Blackness was part of the evaluation. With Flores, a Black coach’s personality and intelligence was filtered through the prism of stereotypes. In North Carolina, Black drivers became targets for a contest by law enforcement officials.

Both are examples of precisely what is meant by systemic racism. The Flores example occurred in the context of hiring, the Black drivers in the exercise of authority. One purports to measure merit, the other purports to serve the public trust. Both underline the consequences of institutions making racial assumptions.

The purpose of Flores’ lawsuit is to force the NFL to re-examine its hiring process for head coaches and leadership positions. But the recruiting report is larger than the Flores lawsuit or even whether Flores gets another head coaching job.

This is about language, perception and double-standard stereotypes, all of which have been used to maintain the status quo. Who is allowed to be demanding without being characterized as a dictator or overbearing? Who is allowed to be confident without being called arrogant?

It’s good Flores is going through with his lawsuit and that the details will be public. He just may blitz the NFL into fair play.

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