Two black coaches, with significant NFL experience, on Thursday Join a first-degree lawsuit Which accuses the League and its teams of discrimination and lip service to the rules of minority employment.
The lawsuit was joined by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, former Arizona Cardinals coach Steve Wilkes, and Ray Horton, who was recently a defensive coach for the team now known as the Washington Captains.
Wilkes was in charge at Arizona State in 2018 when the Cardinals finished 3-13.
Wilkes “was discriminated against by the Arizona Cardinals” by being appointed only as a “bridge coach” and “failing to give him any meaningful chance of success,” according to Flores’ amended lawsuit.
Arizona has replaced Wilkes with Cliff Kingsbury, a former Texas Tech coach who had no prior NFL coaching experience. Kingsbury, who is white, went from 35 to 40 during six college seasons, a mark of less than 0.500 that came despite his services. Future NFL star Patrick Mahomes in Lubbock.
The Cardinal has since become a play-off contender under Kingsbury and Dynamic midfielder Keeler Murray.
According to the lawsuit, “Mr. Wilkes, if given the same opportunity as Mr. Kingsbury, would surely have succeeded as well.”
Wilkes is now Defensive Passing Coordinator For Carolina Panthers.
“The decisions we made after the 2018 season were very difficult,” the Cardinals said in a statement on Thursday. “But as we said at the time, they were entirely motivated by what serves the interests of our organization and is necessary to improve the team. We are confident that the facts reflect this and prove these allegations to be untrue.”
Horton was the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans when he allegedly submitted a sham interview to that home spot in Nashville to please the NFL. Condition “Roney Base” To interview minority candidates.
Horton was at his home in Phoenix when on January 15, 2016, he was allegedly called and asked to board a last-second late-night flight to Tennessee to meet Amy Adams Stringthe controlling owner of the Titans, for an interview with the main training area.
“The urgency of the application was, Mr. Horton said, due to the fact that ‘Strunk’s granddaughter’ was competing in an equestrian event that she had to arrive in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday,” the suit said.
“Thus, Mr. Horton took the red-carpet at short notice to interview the Titans” on January 16, according to the lawsuit.
Horton now understands, the rush to interview him was an orchestrated attempt to show that the Giants complied with the Rooney rule and appeared to give the black candidates an equal chance so that the team could announce a pre-decision.
Shortly after, Tennessee announced that Mike Mullarkey, the Titans’ interim head coach, had been given the job on a permanent basis.
“Mr. Mullarkey admitted that he knew that his job was his job before he was interviewed and that minority candidates interviewed as part of the process were subjected to sham interviews…in order to comply with the Rooney Rule and/or create the appearance of a non-discriminatory process,” the lawsuit said.
The NFL declined to comment and a representative for the Titans could not be immediately reached.
Flores now Assistant Coach with the Pittsburgh Steelerswhere he worked under the supervision of the black coach for the longest period in the league, Mike Tomlin.
The Amazing Miami Dolphin He separated from Flores after three years in charge, which included 10-6 and 9-8 records in the last two seasons. The A privilege he was proud ofwith two Super Bowl titles, hasn’t had consecutive winning seasons since 2003 before the Flores.
The NFL has come under increasing scrutiny of its hiring practices, just A handful of minority coaches In a league where more than two-thirds of the players are not white.
The shortlist includes Tomlin in Pittsburgh, Ron Rivera in Washington, Luffy Smith In Houston and Robert Saleh with the New York Jets. Mike McDanielwho was recently set in Miami, identifies as “multi-racial”.
Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carol reportedly cried The NFL’s lack of diversity during recent league meetings.
Adam Race Contributed.
[ad_2]
