With the Arizona Cardinals’ hiring of former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, the NFL’s 2026 head coaching carousel has officially stopped spinning. A record-tying 10 franchises decided to let go of their head coach this offseason, a stark reminder of how rapidly one’s career can be shaken in the NFL. While some of these coaches fought to get jobs on other teams, Jon Gruden and Brian Flores are two former head coaches who saw their exits turn into battles of the legal kind, both of which still rage on to this day.
In 2021, Jon Gruden resigned from his position as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after the NFL released private emails between him and former president of the Washington Commanders Bruce Allen during an investigation into toxic work culture. Gruden used profane, misogynistic, and racist language to describe certain NFL players and executives. Gruden then sued Roger Goodell and the NFL in Nevada state court in November 2021. His claims arose from the NFL collecting about 650,000 emails in their investigation, yet only Gruden’s ever appeared in the public eye. He alleges that it was an orchestrated campaign by Roger Goodell and the NFL to force him into retirement.
Brian Flores was fired in 2022 after serving as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins for three seasons. Despite leading the team to a winning record in back-to-back seasons in 2020 and 2021, he was unable to secure a head coach position with a new team. Flores responded by filing a class-action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against the NFL, the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants, the Houston Texans, and the Dolphins on February 1, 2022. He alleged that he was subjected to phony head coach interviews just to meet the league’s “Rooney Rule,” which states that each team must interview two minority candidates. Flores felt that he was not given any consideration and was discriminated against for being black.
The major obstacle that both Flores and Gruden had to face is the NFL’s arbitration policy. The NFL Constitution states that “[t]he Commissioner shall have full, complete, and final jurisdiction” in arbitrating matters between members of the league. This poses an obvious problem, since their chances of winning a case against the NFL are impossibly low when the NFL’s commissioner has the final say. Therefore, both had to face a motion from the NFL to compel arbitration.
The motion against Flores was granted in part and denied in part on March 1, 2023. The Second Circuit ruled that Flores’ claims against the Dolphins would be subject to arbitration as they arose from his employment, despite the suit being filed after he was terminated. However, it ruled that his claims against the Broncos, Giants, and Texans were not subject to arbitration, as those claims arose out of the head coach interviews, and he was never employed with those teams. Both the plaintiffs and defendants took issue with this decision and filed interlocutory appeals on the issue of arbitration.
On August 14, 2025, the Second Circuit decided it lacked jurisdiction to rule on Flores’ appeal of the court’s decision that his claims against the Dolphins would be subject to the NFL’s arbitration policy. However, on the NFL’s appeal, it affirmed the lower court’s decision to deny the NFL’s motion to compel arbitration on Flores’ claims against the Texans, Broncos, and Giants, as it agreed with the Nevada Supreme Court that the arbitration clause was unenforceable. Flores then filed a motion in the district court to reconsider the March 1st decision to compel arbitration for his claims against the Dolphins based upon the appellate court’s decision. On February 13th, 2026, the district court granted Flores’ motion and will not compel arbitration for any of the plaintiff’s claims.
As Flores’ suit was progressing through the federal courts, Gruden’s suit reached the Supreme Court of Nevada on August 11, 2025. This court took a favorable stance for Gruden, as it ruled that the NFL arbitration clause was unconscionable and unenforceable. The court decided that the clause was procedurally unconscionable on the basis that Gruden has little to no power to negotiate this clause and substantially unconscionable because the NFL can unilaterally change its constitution without warning. It also took issue with Roger Goodell acting as both the defendant and arbitrator.
With both coaches holding steadfast against the NFL’s attempts to arbitrate, what may seem like an unimportant matter will likely have powerful effects on how large organizations attempt to arbitrate their own matters in the future. For now, we look to see how Gruden and Flores will handle his opportunity to properly litigate against the NFL in open court.
