The league is on alert about African Americans in HC positions ever since Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL. And Stephen A Smith believes Mike Tomlin is lucky he is Pittsburgh because of it.
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Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the Miami Dolphins, the Denver Broncos, and the New York Giants for alleged racism in hiring. He presented that the teams only brought him in under the facade of the NFL’s Rooney Rule that requires teams to interview a minority candidate for the position.
Currently, only one of the NFL’s 32 teams employs a black head coach. The Pittsburgh Steelers with Mike Tomlin, who has never had a losing season in his 15 years with the franchise. Brian Flores was the other and had just led the Miami Dolphins to back-to-back winning season, but was let go nonetheless.
Stephen A Smith does not think Mike Tomlin would still be a coach if he wasn’t in Pittburgh
Smith posted a video to his Twitter account on Friday afternoon to explain his reasoning why he believes Mike Tomlin is a lucky man.
“Does anybody doubt that if Mike Tomlin was not in Pittsburgh, would he be a head coach in the NFL right now? He would have been fired,” Smith said. “Tomlin would’ve been gone because he’s been on the hot seat before and he had no business being on the hot seat. I’m just using him, who’s a winner in my mind, one of the best coaches in the NFL, and I think a future Hall-of-Famer. 15 years and never a losing season in his coaching career. Mike Tomlin, one could easily argue, if he were not in Pittsburgh, he would’ve lost his job already.”
