ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The last time the Denver Broncos interviewed Brian Flores, he called it a "sham" and specifically named the team in his racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL that he filed a year ago.
But there are labor laws protecting those who file a civil complaint regarding employment with the defendant, and the Broncos will try it again with Flores, as a source confirmed that the team has requested to interview the Pittsburgh Steelers coach for their defensive coordinator position.
The interview request casts doubt as to Ejiro Evero's current status as the Broncos' defensive coordinator. He is under contract with the Broncos through next season, and the team hopes to retain him.
However, Evero is close friends with Nathaniel Hackett, who was fired as the Broncos' head coach with two games left in his first season of 2022. Evero passed up an offer to become the team's interim head coach for the final two weeks, and although he would not comment as to his reason, speculation was he declined out of loyalty to Hackett.
Several sources confirmed Evero has spoke to head coach-in-waiting Sean Payton in recent days about whether to stay with the Broncos as defensive coordinator.
The coaching and agent industry is abuzz that Evero would have the opportunity to become the Minnesota Vikings' defensive coordinator under head coach Kevin O'Connell. Evero and O'Connell were on Sean McVay's Los Angeles Rams' staff in 2020-21.
A Broncos source said the interview request for Flores does not necessarily mean Evero is leaving.
In Flores' 58-page, racial discrimination lawsuit filed 367 days ago on Feb. 1, 2021, against the NFL, he specifically accused the Giants, Dolphins and Broncos of various transgressions.
A Broncos' contingent led by then CEO Joe Ellis and then-general manager John Elway interviewed Flores for their then-vacant head coach position on Jan. 5, 2019, in a Providence, R.I., conference room.
Flores in his lawsuit referred to the meeting as a “sham” interview and made scurrilous accusations regarding the appearances of Elway and Ellis.
The Broncos quickly responded by stating the complaint was "baseless and defamatory,'' while providing details of the interview that contradicted Flores' claims.
“It wasn’t a shill interview as far as I was concerned,’’ Ellis said at the NFL owners meetings in March 2021. “I thought it was a great interview and I enjoyed it. I’ve had some subsequent texts with him over the time, congratulating him on big wins. To get dragged into it, I don’t know that it was Brian’s idea. We’ll just leave it at that. It’s disappointing.”
Ellis as a trustee of late owner Pat Bowlen's estate helped orchestrate the sale of Broncos' via auction for $4.65 billion in August to an ownership group headed by Walmart executives Rob Walton, his daughter Carrie Walton Penner and son-in-law Greg Penner.
Penner replaced Ellis as the team's CEO. Ellis is serving as a consultant to Penner while Elway was replaced as GM by George Paton prior to the 2021 season. Elway has since served as a consultant to Paton.
Flores got the head coaching job with the Dolphins in 2019 and was fired after the 2021 season despite posting his second consecutive winning record. He filed his lawsuit a few weeks later and last season served as head coach Mike Tomlin's senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach in Pittsburgh.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Sports