Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks and defensive coordinator Ray Horton have joined ex-Dolphins coach Brian Flores’ class-action lawsuit against the NFL alleging racial discrimination.
The two additions to the Flores lawsuit joined as plaintiffs on Thursday, according to ProFootballTalk.
Wilks served as the Cardinals’ head coach in 2018 but was fired after that single season. The Panthers just brought him on as their secondary coach in the off-season.
According to the new filing, Flores claims that Wilks was never given a chance as coach of the Cardinals. Instead, Flores’ suit claims that Wilks was only hired as a “bridge coach … not given any meaningful chance to succeed.”
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Flores further alleges that Wilks wanted the Cardinals to hire current Bills quarterback Josh Allen in 2018 but ended up with Josh Rosen instead. Rosen only lasted a season with the team.
“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. “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.”
As to Horton, the lawsuit alleges that the Titans gave Horton a “sham interview” for a head coaching job in 2016 but had no intentions of hiring him and had Mike Mularkey on the hook before they even interviewed Horton.
Mularkey admitted in a podcast that he was set to be hired despite the Titans’ interview of Horton. And Horton said he was shocked over it all.
In Thursday’s statement, Horton said he “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.”
Both the Cardinals and the Titans have denied the allegations of discrimination and said their decisions were made for football, not discrimination.
Along with the accusations of discrimination by the Titans, the Texans, and the NFL, Flores’ lawsuit also alleges that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross allegedly offered the former coach $100,000 per loss during his tenure as Miami’s head coach to better the club’s draft position.
The NFL claims to be investigating the accusations in Flores’ lawsuit.
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