Giants call accusations in Brian Flores' lawsuit: 'Disturbing and simply false'
The New York Giants claim they did everything properly when they hired Brian Daboll as the team's next head coach. The Giants responded Thursday to claims made in former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL, calling Flores' accusations against the Giants "disturbing and simply false."
The Giants released a statement Thursday which claimed the team did not make its final decision on hiring Daboll until Jan. 28, the day after Flores completed his second interview with the team.
The team then criticized Flores' lawyers for citing texts with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as evidence the Giants interviewed Flores in bad faith.
The allegation that the Giants' decision had been made prior to Friday evening, January 28, is false. And to base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he "thinks" Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible. The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll's in-person interview even took place. Giants' ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point.
In addition, Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick's text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search.
Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL on Tuesday alleging racial discrimination in the league's hiring process. A portion of the lawsuit focused on Flores' interviews with the Giants. Flores shared texts in which Belichick believed he was texting Daboll to congratulate him on getting hired. Those texts came three days before Flores' second interview with the Giants, leading Flores to believe the team made its decision before bringing Flores back in for another interview.
Giants defend Brian Daboll hiring decision
The Giants released a brief statement Tuesday stating Flores remained in the conversation to be the team's next head coach "until the eleventh hour." In that statement, the team said it was confident in the way the Daboll hiring was handled.
The Giants echoed those words Thursday, stating they believe they hired the most qualified and best person for the team. The Giants again stressed that the team's decision did not come until Jan. 28, a day after Flores' second interview.
Both the NFL and the teams mentioned in Flores' lawsuit were quick to deny the accusations in the lawsuit. The Denver Broncos, Dolphins, Giants and NFL all issued statements denying the allegations laid out in Flores' suit.
