The Pittsburgh Steelers have named Brian Flores of Brooklyn, New York as a defensive assistant and linebackers coach on Saturday according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. The hiring comes even though Flores is suing the National Football League, the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos for “racist hiring practices for coaches and general managers.”
It is interesting that Flores is joining the Steelers organization. At this time Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is one of two African-American head coaches in the NFL. The other is Lovie Smith of the Houston Texans.
Flores brings a strong resume to Pittsburgh. The last three seasons he has been the head coach of the Dolphins. During that time, he had a record of 24 wins and 25 losses. Flores was also with the New England Patriots for 15 years before being hired as the Dolphins head coach. He was the Patriots’ scouting assistant in 2004 and 2005, their pro scout in 2006 and 2007, their special teams assistant in 2008 and 2009, their special teams and assistant offense coach in 2010, their defensive assistant in 2011, their safeties coach from 2012 to 2015, and their linebackers coach from 2016 to 2018. While with the Patriots, Flores won four Super Bowls in 2005, 2015, 2017, and 2019.
Last season the Dolphins gave up 373 points, while the Steelers gave up 398 points. There were some reasons for concerns regarding the Miami defense late in the season. With their season on the line, and battling for a playoff spot, the Dolphins defense was awful in a 34-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans on January 2. In that particular game, Flores’s team could not stop Titans’ backup running back D’Onta Freeman, who had 26 carries for 132 yards and one touchdown. In Pittsburgh, Flores will be working alongside Teryl Austin, who was named the Steelers’ defensive co-ordinator on February 9.
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