The NFL offseason continues to bring big stories to the forefront. Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who was forced after last season, filed suit against the league, alleging racist hiring practices. He cited the Arizona Cardinals and their treatment of Steve Wilks, who coached the team one season in 2018.
Wilks has now joined the lawsuit with Flores, according to multiple reports.
He isn’t the only one. Ray Horton, formerly the defensive coordinator for the cardinals a decade ago, also joined the suit.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared Wilks’ complaint on Twitter.
The complaint of Steve Wilks: pic.twitter.com/hYuatuXlhw
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 7, 2022
From the complaint:
As alleged in the ammended c omplaint, 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 discriminitorily 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 while coach, Kliff Kingsbury, who had no prior NFL coaching experience and was coming off 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. Kinigsbury, surely would have succeeded as well.
Horton’s complaint is not related to the Cardinals, who interviewed him to be head coach following the 2012 season. Instead, Bruce Arians was hired. Horton claims his head-coaching interview later with the Tennessee Titans was a sham of an interview.
It is no surprise Wilks joined the complaint, especially since his firing was used as evidence of racist hiring practices.
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