Bill Belichick shuts down talk of Brian Flores lawsuit: ‘Can’t comment’
Bill Belichick said he “can’t comment” on the lawsuit that Steelers assistant coach Brian Flores filed against the NFL last month alleging discrimination in the hiring process.
Belichick shut down the topic during a press conference at the NFL owners’ meeting Monday, as the lawsuit is ongoing.
The Patriots coach is named in the lawsuit, in which Flores provided previous text messages between the two as evidence in his discrimination claim. In the 58-page class-action lawsuit, Flores said he believes “back-channel conversations” and Belichick’s “influence” led to him not getting the Giants’ head-coaching job.
The alleged messages show a text from Belichick congratulating Flores on getting the Giants’ job — before Belichick “realized” in another message that he had texted the wrong Brian and meant to send it to then-Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. At the time, Flores wasn’t scheduled to interview with the Giants until the next day.
In the lawsuit, Flores claims his interview was a sham to meet the NFL’s Rooney Rule — and that the Giants had made their decision to hire Daboll to replace fired coach Joe Judge before the team even met with Flores.
“I’m not mad,” Flores said about Belichick on the “I Am Athlete” podcast in February. “He sent a text message to the wrong person. I’m certainly guilty of that.”
On Sunday, Giants co-owner John Mara said the organization is “not settling” the lawsuit, “because the allegations are false.”
Mara maintained that “[Belichick] didn’t speak to anyone in our organization,” and that the Giants’ hiring process was fair.
“I’ve said over and over again we had a very thorough process. Interviewed some great candidates. Made the decision we made based on a lot of factors. [General manager] Joe [Schoen’s] prior relationship with Brian [Daboll] certainly entered into it. But at the end of the day we thought Brian Daboll was the best fit for us.”
As for how Belichick would’ve known Daboll was getting the Giants job? Mara said, “I have no idea. You have to ask him that.”
The Giants announced the Daboll hire in late January.
“I haven’t spoken or communicated with Bill since we played them in the preseason last summer,” Mara said.
Flores was hired by the Steelers in February, as their senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. The former Dolphins coach is still pursuing his lawsuit against the NFL and all its 32 teams.