Dino Mangiero played six years in the NFL before becoming a high school coach who befriended and mentored a young man from Brooklyn named Brian Flores. They met when the football player was in eighth grade and remain close today.
If officials from the global consulting firm Korn Ferry had reached out to Mangiero about Flores — he said they didn’t — while helping the Las Vegas Raiders find a new head coach, Mangiero would have handed them a glowing scouting report.
“Straight-A student in eighth grade, very smart kid, Boston College didn’t blink when they took him later,” Mangiero, who coached Flores at Poly Prep Country Day, told The Athletic. “A lot of good academic schools wanted him.
“His mother was tough and made sure he did his schoolwork. Bright-eyed, wanted to learn. You never had to tell Brian to do anything twice. It was always, ‘Coach, I got it.’ He had great listening and comprehending skills, and those are his biggest attributes.”So Mangiero was knocked back when he read of an unsealed Korn Ferry document tied to Flores’ discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and multiple teams that described his longtime friend as a man who “can fool you with his polish upwards” and who learned “how to build relationships with white-collar and upper-class individuals” only through his ability to “build a strong friendship with a billionaire’s son.” Mangiero said he was disgusted to read that characterization, along with the claim the current Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator is “polished and a good presenter despite growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn (same as Mike Tyson).”
Corporate America has always had a problem distinguishing a tough neighborhood from a bad neighborhood. A tough neighborhood is home to tough people doing their damnedest to overcome societal inequities to build a better life for their kids.
Raul and Maria Flores, Honduran immigrants, raised their children in the Glenmore Plaza projects on everyday American values — discipline, accountability, earn every single thing you get. Raul was a merchant marine who was away working on a ship for most of the year. Maria was running the ship at home with a no-nonsense approach designed to keep her sons out of trouble.
Read more for free here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7691426/2026/10/15/brian-flores-report-nfl-lawsuit-korn-ferry-raiders/?unlocked_article_code=1.I1E.IKtG.hOk_Cc5OA1Z1&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta
