Ex-Cards coach Wilks, Horton join Flores lawsuit over racist hiring practices
Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks and former defensive coordinator Ray Horton have joined Brian Flores' class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three teams, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Flores, who was fired by the Miami Dolphins this offseason, filed a lawsuit against the league, the Dolphins, the New York Giants, and the Denver Broncos in February over alleged racial discrimination in hiring practices.
"When coach Flores filed this action, I knew I owed it to myself, and to all Black NFL coaches and aspiring coaches, to stand with him," Wilks said in a statement, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. "This lawsuit has shed further important light on a problem that we all know exists, but that too few are willing to confront.
"Black coaches and candidates should have exactly the same ability to become employed, and remain employed, as white coaches and candidates. That is not currently the case, and I look forward to working with coach Flores and coach Horton to ensure that the aspiration of racial equality in the NFL becomes a reality."
Wilks explained his complaint against the Cardinals in a statement via Schefter:
As alleged in the amended complaint, in 2018 Mr. Wilks was discriminated against by the Arizona Cardinals in a manner consistent with the experiences of many Black coaches. Mr. Wilks was hired as a "bridge coach" and was not given any meaningful chance to succeed. He was unfairly and discriminatorily fired after just one season. His white GM, who made poor personnel decisions and was convicted for a DUI during the offseason, was given a contract extension. Mr. Wilks was replaced by a white coach, Kliff Kingsbury, who had no prior NFL coaching experience and was coming off of multiple losing seasons as a Head Coach at Texas Tech. Mr. Kingsbury, armed with quarterback Kyler Murray, has been given a much longer leash than Mr. Wilks and, to his credit, has succeeded. That said, Mr. Wilks, given the same opportunity afforded to Mr. Kingsbury, surely would have succeeded as well.
Wilks spent one season as head coach in Arizona in 2018. The 52-year-old, who joined the Carolina Panthers' coaching staff this year as an assistant, was fired at the end of that campaign after posting a 3-13 record.
Horton said the Tennessee Titans gave him a "sham" interview in 2016 after he was the team's defensive coordinator from 2014-15. Tennessee eventually named Mike Mularkey as head coach, and Mularkey later said the Titans told him he'd be hired "before they went through the Rooney Rule," according to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.
"I am proud to stand with coach Flores and coach Wilks in combatting the systemic discrimination which has plagued the NFL for far too long," Horton wrote. "When I learned from coach Mularkey's statements that my head coach interview with the Titans was a sham, I was devastated and humiliated. By joining this case, I am hoping to turn that experience into a positive and make lasting change and create true equal opportunity in the future."
Mularkey acknowledged the situation Thursday.
"I believe you have the truth and what you need," Mularkey told ESPN's Kevin Van Valkenburg in an email. "Prefer not to comment any further."
After Wilks and Horton joined the lawsuit, Flores said in a statement: "I continue to be humbled by the outpouring of support in connection with my claims against the NFL and applaud Steve Wilks and Ray Horton for standing up against systemic race discrimination.
"Their claims are the unfortunate reality of the problems facing Black coaches in the NFL, which our collective hope in this case is to end once and for all."
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