A previously sealed report from the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coaching evaluation has come to light, raising questions about Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. After seeing the report, longtime Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward spoke up, offering a very different view of Flores. After all, he has played under Flores in Pittsburgh, where the coach worked as a senior defensive assistant.
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Responding to a Front Office Sports post on X about the controversial memo, Cam Heyward pushed back on the negative picture some people have painted of how Flores coaches and leads.
“I can only speak on how Flo was here but man I loved playing for Flo. Worked his tail off and he held players accountable. Brilliant mind who studied constantly,” Heyward wrote on X.
Heyward saw Flores up close in Pittsburgh, so his words carry weight. Flores started his NFL career with the Patriots, working as a scouting assistant in 2004. From there, he transitioned to the coaching staff from 2008 to 2018 for the Pats. He called the defense in his final season there, which ended with a Super Bowl LIII win.
He then coached the Dolphins from 2019 to 2021. After Miami fired him, he joined Mike Tomlin’s staff in 2022 as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach, then moved to the Vikings in 2023.
A recently unsealed report prepared by recruiting firm Korn Ferry has become a key part of the case. Made public on Tuesday, the report outlines six strengths and seven weaknesses in Flores’ profile, calling him a “polished and a good presenter”. His lawyers argue that the assessment reflects racial stereotypes that continue to influence the NFL’s coaching hires.
Flores’ legal team argues that the report reinforces racial stereotypes and was used to penalize him for taking the NFL to court over alleged discrimination.
The report was tied to the Raiders, who chose not to interview Flores in 2024. Michael Willemin, a member of his legal team, alleged that the report labeled him as an “angry Black man.”
Moreover, Korn Ferry writes on the negative side about Flores, “He can fool you with his polish upwards.”
Willemin told FOS that this line is a “racially offensive way in which someone might comment upon a Black man being articulate, as though it is surprising for a Black man to be articulate (or, in this case, polished).”
Another weakness listed was that Flores’ ongoing discrimination lawsuit against the NFL could become a distraction.
Flores’ attorney Douglas H. Wigdor also spoke to Front Office Sports:
“The recently unsealed documents demonstrate two unfortunate, but unsurprising, realities,” Wigdor said in a statement. “First, that Mr. Flores’ decision to hold the league and its teams accountable for systemic race discrimination has been met with unlawful retaliation.
Second, discrimination continues to play a significant role in the hiring process for NFL head coaches, as evidenced by the fact that the candidate profile prepared for the Raiders leans heavily on racial stereotypes. Mr. Flores and we are committed to eradicating the institutional racism and retaliation that permeates the league, its teams and their partners.”
Brian Flores took legal action against the NFL and three teams in February 2022, alleging the NFL was “rife with racism” in its hiring process. His case later gained two more plaintiffs, former NFL coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, who also joined the lawsuit.
In his federal complaint, Flores says he went through two interviews with the Giants even though they had already picked Brian Daboll, the former Bills offensive coordinator, for the job.
His lawsuit also names the Dolphins and the NFL, and it claims the Broncos gave him a sham interview in 2019. Denver calls that claim “blatantly false.”
So there are two very different views of Flores right now. Heyward praises him, while the Korn Ferry report paints a harsher picture. Both are tied to his 2022 lawsuit, which is still going.