Watching Brian Flores lose his job in Miami was a tough pill to swallow for Devin McCourty.
McCourty obviously has a close bond with Flores, who was on the Patriots' coaching staff for the veteran safety's first eight seasons in New England. But personal connection aside, McCourty believes the Dolphins firing Flores brought an ongoing problem in the NFL back to light.
"It feels like he's going to have quite a few interviews for a head-coaching job," McCourty said Thursday on "The Greg Hill Show," as transcribed by WEEI. "I think, obviously, Flo has done a great job down there -- back-to-back winning seasons and all of that. I think it also shows, you saw a lot of people tweeting, that just being a Black coach in the NFL, you don't have the same type of leniency. You have a tighter leash when you go out there and coach.
"Now we're down to two Black coaches in the NFL as head coaches. It will be interesting to see what happens this cycle around -- does Flo get another opportunity, or (Eric) Bieniemy from Kansas City? I think it's something that has been talked about with the league over the last few years and we'll see if it improves or not. It was definitely surprising for people in that building from talking to my brother and also around the NFL. We'll see how it all shakes out."
As McCourty suggested, Flores might not be out of the head coaching world for long. The 40-year-old will interview with the Chicago Bears, who fired Matt Nagy on Monday.
