Former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores has filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and all 32 teams alleging racial discrimination in the league's hiring process.
To discuss the firing of Flores and the lawsuit, the Hall of Fame Coach Tony Dungy joined News Talk 830 WCCO's Chad Hartman.
"I think the NFL, we have to realize that we have a problem," Dungy said. "This could be just the tip of the iceberg."
Dungy shared he thinks the NFL needs to seriously look at this issue and do something before "more and more" people have problems.
In his suit, Flores named his role with the Dolphins and interviews with the New York Giants and Denver Broncos. He also cited a text message between himself and New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
The text messages from Flores allege that Belichick texted him mistakenly thinking he was texting Brian Daboll, showing that he had already secured the Giants' head-coaching job. This was three days before Flores interviewed for the job.
Because of this, he claimed that his interview was only to fulfill the league's Rooney Rule — a policy that requires each team to interview an ethnic-minority candidate.
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The NFL has said the claims "are without merit," according to a league-issued statement. The Giants shared they are "pleased and confident" in their hiring process, and the Patriots declined to comment on the situation to the Athletic on Tuesday.
Dungy talked about the firing of Flores and how current Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor had fewer wins in his first two seasons than Flores did this year alone.
"What's the difference?" Dungy asked.
While both coaches struggled in their first two seasons, the difference is that Taylor's team stuck with him, and Dungy doesn't think that Flores was given a fair opportunity.
"We've got to do a better job, all the way around. You know we've had three hiring cycles now, and one black coach [hired]," Dungy said. "17 jobs and one African American."
Dungy feels too many good coaches, including Leslie Frazier and Jim Caldwell, are being looked over for head coaching roles, with the common denominator being race.
"To see these guys go through cycle after cycle and not get hired, there's got to be something wrong," Dungy said.
Hartman also spoke to former Viking and Raven center Matt Birk, who also worked for the NFL as the director of football development. He says it is a serious issue for the league.
“I think anytime you levy an allegation of racism, that's not a word that I throw around lightly and that I don't take lightly, it's serious.” says Birk. “When you look at the number of black head coaches or the lack of black head coaches in the league. Although I think the league has tried to do something about this issue that has existed for a long, long time, it's just not working right. You're not getting the results that you want. So you're going to have to look at the process and say, we've got to do something differently.”
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