Austin Jackson and Zach Sieler are the only ones left from when Brian Flores was head coach of the Miami Dolphins. It's been a wild five years for both parties, who meet again today when Flores's Minnesota Vikings host the Fins.
Flores rose from Bill Belichick's staff on the New England Patriots to become head coach in South Florida in 2019. The defensive guru and strict disciplinarian replaced the offensive-minded Adam Gase, looking to build a system of toughness after back-to-back losing seasons followed a playoff berth in Gase's first season.
His three-year tenure was tumultuous, to say the least, marked with criticisms of his harsh leadership (a staple of Belichick disciples) and a hesitation to hand the reins of the offense over to prized
draft pick Tua Tagovailoa. Still, the results were solid, with Miami scraping together five wins in 2019 despite one of the weakest rosters in the NFL and two winning seasons after that.
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The writing was on the wall despite an 8-1 finish to the 2021 season. Flores would climb back into the coaching ranks as a special assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, a move that came mere weeks after he filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the Dolphins and two other teams over what he called racist hiring practices after he was passed over for another head coaching job. The case called into question the earnestness and intention of the "Rooney Rule," implemented to give minority coaching candidates and new voices a better chance to interview and earn top jobs, but accused of being used to simply check a box before hiring the guy front offices were targeting all along.
Flores parlayed the Steelers gig into a job as the Vikings' defensive coordinator in 2023. Thanks to his heavy-blitzing schemes, the Vikings have had one of the best defenses since his arrival, finishing fifth in scoring in 2024 and seventh in 2025. They're second three weeks into this season, giving up 13.7 points per game, and tied for third with six takeaways.
The Dolphins beat his Steelers 16-10 in 2022, but this will be the first time Flores leads a defense against the team he used to coach.
Why did Dolphins fire Brian Flores?
Flores was fired after the 2021 season, going 9-8 that year to finish with a 24-25 record in Miami. Tagovailoa was among the former players who have spoken out against Flores' coaching methods, calling him a "terrible person" and saying Flores told him "you suck" every day. Another former Miami quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, said on his "Fitz & Whit" podcast in 2025 that Flores "became a dictator" by the end of his tenure.
Flores would file a lawsuit a year later alleging among other things that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross bribed him with $100,000 per loss to improve the team's draft position in 2019. Miami finished that year 5-11 and took Tagovailoa with the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He also claimed he was pressured to recruit a "prominent quarterback" in violation of NFL tampering rules. That player was later revealed to be Tom Brady, who was on his way out of New England at the time.
Why did Brian Flores sue the NFL?
On Feb. 1, 2022, Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three teams: the Dolphins, the New York Giants, and the Denver Broncos. In the lawsuit, Flores claimed the NFL practiced "plantation"-style racism in its hiring practices, flaunting the Rooney Rule, designed to promote diversity among coaches, by interviewing Black candidates with no intention of actually hiring them.
The prime incident cited in Flores' lawsuit was a text message he received three days before he was set to interview for the Giants head coach position. Bill Belichick, whom Flores previously worked for as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator with the New England Patriots, texted Flores congratulations for landing the gig. He then sent a follow-up text apologizing and saying he thought the message was going to Brian Daboll, who is white.
“Sorry – I (bleeped) this up," the lawsuit quotes Belichick in the text. "I double checked and misread the text. I think they are naming Brian Daboll. I’m sorry about that. BB.”
Daboll would later be named Giants head coach. Flores also claimed the Broncos conducted a "sham" interview in 2019. A week later, he added the Houston Texans to the lawsuit, claiming they only promoted Lovie Smith to head coach over hiring him because of the lawsuit. Houston would fire Smith after just one year, replacing him with DeMeco Ryans. Both are Black.
At the time of the lawsuit, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Tomlin was the only Black head coach in the league. There are three in 2026 — Ryans in Houston, Aaron Glenn with the Jets and Todd Bowles in Tampa Bay — plus new Tennessee coach Robert Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent. Saleh was the only non-White head coach hired over the offseason out of 10 available positions.
Did Brian Flores win his lawsuit against the NFL?
The legal process is ongoing, but the case is slowly moving toward trial. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in July rejected motions to move the case to arbitration that would be overseen by Goodell. Flores' case, as well as those filed by Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, will have to be decided in court, Caproni ruled.
On Aug. 28, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave ruled the NFL has not met the burden of cause to stay discovery in the class-action case. Documents related to the discovery process from both parties were due Sept. 4 with a conference between the two parties set for Sept. 9.
Dolphins vs Vikings start time, TV channel
- Date: Sunday, Oct. 4
- Kickoff time: 4:05 p.m. ET
- TV channel: Fox
- Livestream: Fubo (free trial)
Contributing: Jack McKessy, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What happened with Brian Flores and the Dolphins? What led to lawsuit
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