PITTSBURGH — On Sunday night, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores will make his return to South Beach. In February, Flores filed a lawsuit against the Dolphins for racial discrimination and alleged that the Dolphins purposely tried to force him into tanking.
Afterward, Flores landed a job as the senior defensive assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers but announced the lawsuit would not be called off as other coaches joined his coalition against the NFL. It will be an awkward reunion for Flores and Miami this week, to say the least.
However, Mike Tomlin is not letting the talk of the reunion or the lawsuit creep into this week’s preparation. Instead, he is solely focused on football and what they can do to win the game Sunday night. Not only that but his familiarity with them is not a massive boon, according to Tomlin.
“It’s not about what coaches know,” Tomlin said. It’s about what coaches can convey to players and what players can recall moments before the ball is snapped… It’s irrelevant in terms of what we’re doing in preparation for this game.”
Regardless, there will be some pent-up feelings from all sides in this game. Brian Flores has plenty of familiarity with Tua Tagovailoa and other players on the Dolphins.