Bill Belichick declined comment Monday when he was asked about Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, which stems from a seemingly errant text Belichick sent to the wrong former assistant congratulating him on the Giants’ head coaching job.
Giants owner John Mara, however, was unequivocal in his denial of Flores’ claim that Belichick knew about the team’s head coaching hire ahead of time.
“The allegations are false,” Mara told reporters Sunday at the NFL’s annual meetings. “I haven’t spoken or communicated with Bill since we played them in the preseason last summer, and to my knowledge, nobody in our organization communicated with him.”
It’s notable that Mara speaks with such affirmation, considering he admits he hasn’t spoken with Belichick about the situation.
“Why should I?" Mara responded.
In Flores’ class-action suit, the now-Steelers defensive coach cites texts from Belichick that appear to be intended for Brian Daboll, whom the Giants hired Jan. 28. Belichick congratulates the recipient on landing the job, even though Flores hadn’t been interviewed yet.
The seeming snafu led Flores to believe he was sitting for a sham interview to satisfy the Rooney Rule.
Last month, the Giants distanced themselves from Belichick in a written statement, saying, “Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick's text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search."
Mara doubled down on that notion when asked about the lawsuit at the annual meetings, saying, "Not settling it because the allegations are false. "We're very comfortable with our hiring process. It was a fair process and we ended up making the decision that we made based on a lot of factors, none of which had to do with race."
With situations like these, it’s important to remember that lying to the public carries no tangible repercussions, especially for someone like Mara - but either Belichick knew the Giants were hiring Daboll, or he’s prophetic.
I’m going with the former, considering Belichick’s long history with the Giants. There’s also the fact the Giants conferred with Belichick about Joe Judge prior to hiring him in 2020. The New York Post’s Ian O’Connor reported Mara asked Belichick about Judge.
Granted, Judge was a disaster in New York, so maybe Belichick’s word wasn’t the deciding factor this time around. But given that Daboll coached under Belichick for a decade, it’s fair to surmise the Giants might’ve been interested in Belichick’s thoughts on his long-time assistant.