Steve Wilks, Ray Horton join Brian Flores suit as Mike Mularkey admitted Titans interview was a sham

NFL coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton levied damning allegations of discriminatory hiring practices against the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans on Thursday as co-plaintiffs in coach Brian Flores’ amended complaint in U.S. District Court.

Horton, 61, the Titans’ defensive coordinator in 2014-15, alleges he was subjected to a “sham” interview for Tennessee’s head coaching vacancy simply to satisfy the Rooney Rule in Jan. 2016.

The lawsuit quotes Mike Mularkey, the white coach who landed the job, admitting in an obscure podcast interview from 2020 that the Titans circumvented the NFL’s rule requiring interviews of minority candidates during a “fake hiring process.”

The Titans “[t]old me I was going to be the head coach in 2016, before they went through the Rooney Rule,” the lawsuit quotes Mularkey in the podcast. “And so I sat there knowing I was the head coach in 2016, as they went through this fake hiring process knowing, knowing a lot of the coaches that they were interviewing, knowing how much they prepared to go through those interviews, knowing that everything they could do and they had no chance to get that job.

“And actually, the GM Jon Robinson, he was in an interview with me. He had no idea why he is interviewing me, that I have a job already,” Mularkey continued. “I regret it, [be]cause I pride myself and my kids first to do the right thing, and I always said that to the players. And here I am the head guy not doing it, and I regretted it since then. It was the wrong thing to do. I am sorry I did that, but it was not the way to do that. Should have been interviewed like everybody else and got hired [be]cause of the interview not early on.”

Horton said in a statement through the Wigdor LLP law firm that he is “proud to stand with Coach Flores and Coach Wilks in combatting the systemic discrimination which has plagued the NFL for far too long.

“When I learned from Coach Mularkey’s statements that my head coach interview with the Titans was a sham, I was devastated and humiliated,” Horton said. “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.”

Wilks, 52, fired by the Cardinals after only one season as head coach in 2018, alleges that he was hired as a “bridge coach” and not given a meaningful chance to succeed.

The amended complaint points out how Cardinals GM Steve Keim, who is white, has kept his job and received a contract extension despite poor personnel decisions and a D.U.I. conviction.

It also points out that Wilks was replaced by a white coach, Kliff Kingsbury, who had no prior NFL coach experience. And it alleges that Wilks urged Keim during the 2018 NFL Draft to trade up and select quarterback Josh Allen.

Instead, Keim traded up to draft quarterback Josh Rosen, which the lawsuit calls “one of the great draft gaffes of all time.” Wilks was fired after that one season. Keim was allowed to stay on and select quarterback Kyler Murray No. 1 overall the very next year.

“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.”

Flores’ lawsuit now shines the light on the NFL and six specific franchises: the Giants, Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Cardinals and Titans.

The amended complaint notes the existence of more evidence to Flores’ tanking allegations against the Dolphins.

The complaint makes reference to a Dec. 4, 2019, memo that Flores allegedly wrote to memorialize owner Stephen Ross’ alleged desire to have Miami lose games and sent to GM Chris Grier, CEO Tom Garfinkel and senior VP Brandon Shore.

“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,” Flores said in a statement. “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.”

The new version of Flores’ lawsuit also calls out the NFL’s new “diversity advisory committee” as an empty gesture by the NFL that “does not in any way demonstrate a true commitment to change, oversight and accountability.”

Experts have concerns that the NFL will be able to use language in Flores’ Dolphins contract to protect the revelations of this lawsuit in closed arbitration. It’s also difficult to prove a common damage in a class action filing. Wilks’ and Horton’s testimonials, however, undoubtedly are meaningful in furthering Flores’ cause.

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from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3cx5RmQ