The Texans were added to Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL and other teams in an amended complaint on Thursday and the team has issued a response to that development.
Flores alleges that the Texans retaliated against him “by removing him for consideration for its Head Coach vacancy due to his decision to file this action and speak publicly about systemic discrimination in the NFL.” Multiple reports indicated the Texans were down to Flores and Josh McCown as candidates at the time the suit was originally filed and the complaint alleges the Texans “were rightfully concerned” that hiring McCown would bolster Flores’ allegations.
Houston ultimately promoted defensive coordinator Lovie Smith and issued a statement defending the process that led to his hiring.
“The search for our head coach was very thorough and inclusive,” the statement said. “Due to his previous success as a coach in the NFL, Brian Flores was among the first candidates we held a formal interview with for the position and he remained a candidate until the very end. We have a lot of respect for Brian both personally and professionally; he has been a competitive coach in the league for a number of years and his resume speaks for itself. We enjoyed our multiple conversations with Brian regarding his vision for our organization, which included an in-person meeting with the McNair family and General Manager Nick Caserio. In the end, we made the decision to hire Lovie Smith as our head coach and we believe he is the best fit for our team moving forward. It was a very fluid process that allowed us to spend time with a number of quality candidates. We are proud of our decision and will vigorously defend our process.”
Two other coaches joined Flores’ complaint and the Titans and Cardinals have been added to the lawsuit as defendants along with the Texans.