Ron Rivera Backs Brian Flores, Says He Has 'the Type of Resume You Point At'

Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera defended Brian Flores on Wednesday, a day after the former Miami Dolphins head coach sued the NFL and the Dolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants for discriminatory hiring practices, among other allegations.

"This is a very accomplished coach," Rivera told reporters. "I can see the frustration and I can feel the frustration. It's almost as if this is your last resort. How does a guy like that get left out of the hiring cycle? If you put his resume—and took the name off and changed the team he coached for and grew up with—and put it on the table and looked at all the resumes, Brian Flores is the type of resume you point at. Let's judge on merit."

Rivera also spoke to CBS Mornings about the situation:

In his lawsuit, Flores has alleged that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 per loss in 2019 in an effort to tank for a better draft pick. He also said that general manager Chris Grier told him that Ross was "mad" as the team won games late in the season and that he was "compromising [the team's] draft position."

He also accused Ross of pressuring him to tamper after the 2019 season with a "prominent quarterback" who was still under contract with his team. He also said that in the winter of 2020, Ross invited him to have lunch on his yacht, and when he arrived, Ross told him the quarterback was also arriving for an "impromptu" meeting.

Flores said he didn't take the meeting and left, and in the aftermath of that decision, he was "treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with."

Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post reported that the quarterback in question was Tom Brady. 

Flores also accused the Giants of interviewing him this offseason to fulfill their Rooney Rule obligations and never had an intention of hiring him. He presented text messages from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick—who mistakenly texted him to congratulate him before he had even interviewed with the Giants, in a text meant to go to Brian Daboll—to support that claim. 

The Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to hold an in-person interview with at least one "minority" candidate from outside the organization for any head coaching or general manager opening.

Flores also accused the Broncos of holding a disingenuous and unprofessional interview with him in 2019, alleging that president of football operations John Elway—then the general manager—and several others arrived late to his interview and appeared as though they had been "drinking heavily the night before."

The Giants, Dolphins and Broncos separately denied the accusations, while the NFL said the allegations were "without merit."

But Flores may not be alone in raising such issues against the league. Kimberly Diemert, the executive director of the Hue Jackson Foundation, said the Cleveland Browns paid the former head coach and several former executives bonus money for tanking in both 2016 and 2017:

"It's time to take a stand," Jackson texted ESPN's Jake Trotter. "What I want is what Brian [Flores] wants which is for this BS to change for Black coaches. I lived this same crap."

The Browns called tje allegations "completely fabricated" in a statement.