The legal team for Brian Flores has revealed a memo they claim contained racial stereotypes in their lawsuit against the NFL for discrimination.
The memo referred to talking points teams allegedly used when hiring Black head coaches, according to CBS Sports.
A memo the recruiter Korn Ferry put together for the Las Vegas Raiders during a recent head-coaching search was unsealed in court on Tuesday. It is part of the lawsuit from Flores — and former head coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton —against the league and six teams.
The report noted that he was “polished and a good presenter” despite growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, the same area as notorious heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson. Flores’ lawyers argue the report assumes someone from the predominantly Black area of New York wouldn’t have strong public speaking skills. According to the NYU Furman Center, just over two-thirds of Brownsville’s population, 67.6%, is Black.
The memo, initially obtained by Front Office Sports, also mentioned that Flores was “able to build a strong friendship with a billionaire’s son which gave him opportunities to socialize and learn how to build relationships with white-collar and upper-class individuals.”
Michael Willemin, Flores’s attorney, told Front Office Sports that the memo painted his client as an “angry Black man” while downplaying his intelligence. In highlighting his alleged “weaknesses,” Willemin also said that those played into racial stereotypes, claiming that he used his professional polish to fool people, lacked self-awareness, exhibits erratic behavior, micro-manages, makes knee-jerk decisions, carries a “chip on his shoulder,” acts as a dictator, and once threatened violence toward a GM.
The same section referenced Tua Tagovailoa’s 2024 comments calling Flores “a terrible person,” which shattered his confidence and made him “pessimistic and adversarial.” He responded to Tagovailoa’s remarks in 2024 by saying he used the feedback to grow as a leader.
Flores, now the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, has guided the team to a 5-0 start in 2026 with the NFL’s top-scoring defense.