Brian Flores has never held a head coaching role with the Detroit Lions, yet the NFL team finds itself in a legal battle. The Minnesota Vikings' defensive coordinator has been fighting a lawsuit against the NFL over minority coaching hiring practices for years. This week, the case expanded, and the Lions got dragged into it.

As reported by ESPN, Flores' legal team served subpoenas to 25 NFL teams this week. They are looking to gather hiring records, internal emails, and communications related to coaching searches. Their focus is to build the strongest possible case against the league over how it handles minority candidates under the Rooney Rule.

Nobody named all 25 teams publicly. But it can be identified by the process of elimination. The Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, and Denver Broncos are already named in the lawsuit. Subtract those six teams and the Vikings from all 32 franchises, and you get 25. The Lions are in that group.

After being fired by the Dolphins, Flores filed a lawsuit on Feb. 1, 2022, against the Dolphins, Giants, and Broncos. He alleged that the Giants and Broncos interviewed him for head coaching positions only to comply with the Rooney Rule rather than seriously consider him for the jobs.

Being subpoenaed does not mean the Lions did anything wrong. This is standard legal discovery. Flores' lawyers are casting a wide net across the entire league to gather everything they need to make their case in court.

Why the Lions Are Unlikely to Face Scrutiny

Flores and the Lions never actually crossed paths. He was hired by the Miami Dolphins in 2019 when Matt Patricia was still the head coach in Detroit. By the time the Lions ran their own coaching search after firing Patricia in 2020, Flores was still in Miami, and Dan Campbell was hired as the Lions' head coach in January, 2021.

When the Lions conducted their 2021 search, they hired the Fritz Pollard Alliance to guide the process. That organization specializes in helping NFL teams find and interview minority candidates and is one of the most respected in the league for that exact work.

Meanwhile, Detroit’s 2021 coaching search stood out because the Lions interviewed several minority candidates, Anthony Lynn, Robert Saleh, Marvin Lewis, Eric Bieniemy, and Todd Bowles. They did not merely fulfil the Rooney Rule requirement on paper.

The 45-year-old Flores is scheduled to file his third amended complaint on Wednesday, May 27. Hearings on motions to dismiss will take place on June 15, followed by more legal briefs later in the summer.

What do you think about the Lions being pulled into the Brian Flores lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar