PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It can get lost in the successes and failures of a season, the long days of game planning. Steelers linebackers coach Brian Flores still has an active lawsuit against the NFL.
It comes to attention this week as the Steelers and Flores prepare to go to the stadium where he was head coach just 10 months ago. The Miami Dolphins are a defendant in the case. Is that weighing on his current team?
“It does not,” said Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Tuesday.
Pressed further about it by Associated Press reporter Will Graves, he said it will not be an issue or discussion this week.
“It’s a non-factor,” Tomlin said. “Whatever question you’re about to ask next is irrelevant in terms of what we’re doing here today in preparation for this game. It is a non-story for us. It really is.”
The Dolphins are one of three teams (Broncos and Giants) Flores is suing, along with the NFL, for alleged discrimination regarding the process of the interviews. He’s suing Miami for his firing in January alleging incentivizing tanking, breaking tampering rules to find a quarterback. He was hoping to also shine a light on racial injustices with his charges against the league.
Tomlin said it’s not a topic of conversation this week. The Steelers head coach said they didn’t bring him to Pittsburgh because of his legal situation.
“He’s a quality coach, he’s a great communicator,” Tomlin said. “You don’t ascend into business the way he has without having certain tools and he has consistently displayed those tools since he’s been here.”
“I don’t think any of us are surprised by that. That’s why we had so much excitement when we had an opportunity to acquire him.”
Considering all of the information available to teams, Tomlin said Flores’ knowledge of the Dolphins players is useful, but the coaches don’t play the game.
“It’s not about what coaches know,” Tomlin explained. “It’s about what coaches can convey to players and it’s about what players can recall in an instant in the moment before a ball snaps.”
“Oftentimes, you can sit around the classroom and the coach can provide quality insight and a player could nod their head in agreement, ‘Yeah, I see that and understand that’. But the minute they get on their feet and the bullets are about to start flying and the snap is imminent, those things become less relevant.”
“Our players have got to understand that plan, they’ve got to go out and execute the plan. Very little of that has to do with where Coach Flores worked last year, his intimate knowledge of members of their football team, etcetera.”
“This is a small fraternity, particularly at this level. Those storylines exist every week, and that’s just our mentality regarding them.”
Flores’ exact impact on the Steelers is hard to pinpoint. It’s unknown how much he is truly involved in putting a game plan together. Technically he would be, at highest, third in the pecking order on defense behind coordinator Teryl Austin and Tomlin. Even with his position group, Flores works with 12-year Steelers assistant and former Steelers and Pitt linebacker Jerry Olsavsky.
Middle linebacker Myles Jack said one of the main reasons he signed with the Steelers as a free agent is because of Flores. Devin Bush called him a big addition you can talk life with along with football. Others have praised what Flores has brought to the group.
What extra he brings this week? We may not exactly know, but it seems there will be a lasting impact on several players for years to come.