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Will Brian Flores’ lawsuit lead to change? | Sports Daily Newsletter

Talk about racism in the NFL is front and center at a time when Tom Brady retired and the Super Bowl is approaching.

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a federal lawsuit against the NFL, his former team, and two other teams that interviewed him for jobs. The morning after, he made several national television appearances to talk about it.

It’s the conversation about racism in the NFL that is front and center at a time when Tom Brady retired and the Super Bowl is approaching. History shows that this might not bode well for Flores’ future coaching opportunities in the league, but there’s now talk of a necessary change.

Flores did a courageous thing, columnist Marcus Hayes writes, because — like Curt Flood and Colin Kaepernick before him — he could be blackballed.

— Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport

What needs to change about the process of hiring coaches in the NFL? sports.daily@inquirer.com

Early Birds

Duce Staley, the former Eagles assistant, feels good about the head-coaching interviews he had with the Eagles. Even though he didn’t get the job and left for Detroit, he’s still looking to become a head coach should the opportunity come about, he told beat writer Jeff McLane. For now, Staley is serving as the head coach of one of the Senior Bowl teams. The players seem to like his style.

Meanwhile, the Eagles are on the mend as Jalen Hurts was scheduled to undergo ankle surgery and Shaun Bradley underwent neck surgery. Hurts didn’t look the same after being hobbled Nov. 28. But with the procedure, he won’t be at the Pro Bowl as an alternate, and is expected to make a full recovery.

Off the Dribble

As the NBA trade deadline approaches, the 76ers and Ben Simmons will be connected with players across the league. In recent weeks, the name mentioned closely with the Simmons saga was James Harden. This week, it’s Bradley Beal, who has become a fixture in trade rumors in recent years.

While it remains unclear whether the Sixers would make a real play for Beal, he is a natural fit for a team that lacks a creative scorer to complement Joel Embiid. The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey looked at whether Beal is likely to become available by the deadline and how the Sixers might react to that development.

Beal sat out Wednesday night, but the Washington Wizards still found a way to knock off the Sixers, 106-103, at the Wells Fargo Center.

Next: The Sixers travel to Dallas to play the Mavericks at 10 p.m. Friday at the American Airlines Center (ESPN).

On the Fly

The Flyers have not been a good hockey team this season. In fact, at 15-22-8, they’ve been a downright bad one.

While key injuries have factored into the team’s struggles, they are not the only reason the team has suffered through two separate losing streaks of more than 10 games. The bigger issue is the current makeup of the team’s roster, which is littered with older players, players on bad contracts, and players who frankly are not NHL quality.

A week after Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher uttered at his state-of-the-team address that the team just needs “two or three more pieces” to complement a strong core, we decided to take a closer look at the Flyers roster ahead of the March 21 trade deadline and analyze the accuracy or inaccuracy of his comments. Hint: He’s delirious if he thinks this team is “two or three” pieces away from contending for a Stanley Cup.

Next: The Flyers have a week off surrounding the All-Star break and don’t play again until Feb. 9 when they host the Detroit Wings (NBCSP).

Fleet Street

After losing to Canada and receiving abundant criticism for both his tactics and the location pick of frigid St. Paul, Minn., coach Gregg Berhalter needed a big, emphatic win for the U.S. national team over Honduras in the final match of this round of Concacaf World Cup qualifiers.

Christian Pulisic, whose recent form has been so poor he didn’t start the game, needed a confidence boost.

Done and done. The USMNT won comfortably Wednesday night, and Pulisic scored a goal. Jonathan Tannenwald summed up the must-win game.

Worth a look

  1. New policy? Penn swimmer Lia Thomas has a chance to become an NCAA champion — if she gets the chance to participate. USA Swimming has released a new policy on trans athletes that if adopted by the NCAA would raise questions about her eligibility.

  2. Penn State signings: The Nittany Lions added two more recruits on signing day, including former Northeast High defensive back Tyrece Mills.

  3. New Owls: Temple didn’t have much of a signing day in December with a new coaching staff coming aboard, but on Wednesday the program did sign 12 players, including quarterback EJ Warner, son of Kurt Warner.

  4. Luge with a broken finger: Pennsylvania native Summer Britcher will participate in the Winter Olympics in luge, but the problem is, she’ll do it while on the mend from a broken finger. She’ll have to improvise.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Marcus Hayes, Jeff McLane, Keith Pompey, Josh Tolentino, Giana Han, Olivia Reiner, Gustav Elvin, Ellie Rushing, Isabella DiAmore, and Matt Breen.