(Reuters) – The Miami Dolphins named former San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel as their new head coach on Sunday to fill the vacancy created by the firing of Brian Flores, who sued the NFL last week over alleged race bias.
McDaniel, who takes over a Dolphins team that are coming off of two consecutive winning seasons yet haven’t made the playoffs since 2016, is the first minority hire at head coach in the 2022 cycle. McDaniel is biracial; his father is Black.
The Dolphins’ coaching announcement comes five days after Flores, who is Black, filed a lawsuit accusing the NFL and three of its teams of discriminating against Black candidates for coaching and management jobs.
The lawsuit seeks to force the NFL to make a series of changes, incentivize teams to hire Black coaches and general managers, and require teams to explain hiring and termination decisions in writing.
In a statement responding to the suit, the NFL said the claims were without merit. The Dolphins also said Flores’ allegations were without merit.
McDaniel, 38, joins Miami after five seasons in San Francisco where he served as the team’s offensive coordinator during the 2021 season after four years as the team’s run game coordinator (2017-2020).
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Chris Reese)
