Art Rooney: We hired Brian Flores because he is a…

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With former Dolphins coach Brian Flores not getting a head-coaching job in the latest cycle, the Steelers hired him to be an assistant coach. Although it’s a coup for the Steelers given the abilities of the individual, the fact remains that Flores has filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three specific teams. It makes things delicate, to say the least.

At the league meetings in Florida, Steelers owner Art Rooney II addressed the decision to add Flores to the coaching staff.

“We hired Brian because we think he is a qualified coach and will be an asset to us,” Rooney said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “You know, the lawsuit can create an awkward situation at times. But, irrespective of the lawsuit, we remain committed — I remain committed — to improving the situation in every way we can, and we’ve been working hard to do that.”

Hiring Flores as an assistant doesn’t improve the broader situation. It does, however, take some steam out of the possibility that Flores will be shunned as a result of his lawsuit. While he may never again be an NFL head coach, the lawsuit hasn’t made him completely unemployable in pro football.

“I can’t really comment on the lawsuit itself,” Rooney said. “That’s something that we agree that he’ll pursue his end of it, we’ll pursue our end of it and that’s sort of going to happen outside the building.”

Rooney’s remark that the lawsuit “can create an awkward situation at times” may be an understatement. His family has close, historical ties with the Mara family, which owns the Giants. And Flores has made specific allegations against the Giants, allegations that Giants co-owner John Mara disputes. Mara, put simply, thinks Flores is making claims against the Giants that are wrong at best, false at worst. And Rooney has hired Flores?

Yeah, that will make things awkward at times.

The Steelers and Rooney nevertheless did the right thing. The next question is whether, in the next hiring cycle, Flores will get ful and fair consideration for any head-coaching vacancies.