Two Black Coaches Join Brian Flores’ Lawsuit Against NFL Alleging Racial Discrimination

Topline

Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks and longtime former assistant coach Ray Horton have joined former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores as plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in the league’s hiring practices, supporting Flores’ claims that Black coaches are subject to sham job interviews and are considered more disposable than their white counterparts.

Then-head coach Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins reacts prior to the game against the New York … [+] Jets at Hard Rock Stadium on October 18, 2020 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

An amended complaint filed Thursday claims the Cardinals hired Wilks to a head coaching role in 2018 to serve as a “bridge coach” whose job would be “keeping the seat warm” until a more preferable coaching candidate could be hired.

Wilks was fired after just one season, an unusually short period to serve as a head coach, and was replaced by Kliff Kingsbury, who is white.

Horton served as an assistant coach on various teams between 1994 and 2019, and interviewed for several head coaching positions but never received a job offer.

The suit claims the Tennessee Titans brought Horton in for a “sham interview” following the 2015 season, citing comments the coach who was ultimately hired for the job, Mike Mularkey, made on a podcast in 2020, in which he admitted he’d received the job offer before Horton went in for an interview.

Flores, who filed the initial lawsuit in February, claiming the New York Giants subjected him to a similar sham interview after the Miami Dolphins fired Flores following the 2021 season.

Crucial Quote

“The NFL—left to its own devices to police itself—has continually failed to address the massive imbalance and underrepresentation of Black coaches and executives,” the lawsuit says.

Chief Critic

The NFL decried the lawsuit as “without merit” after the initial filing. An NFL spokesman declined to comment on Thursday’s amended complaint.

Key Background

At the center of the complaint against the NFL is the league’s “Rooney Rule,” which was enacted in 2002 and requires teams to interview minority candidates for open head coaching jobs. The lawsuit states the Rooney Rule “may have been well intentioned, but it is not working,” as evidenced by the small number of Black coaches. Only four of the league’s 32 teams (12.5%) will enter the 2022 season with a Black head coach, while around 70% of NFL players are Black. At the time Flores filed his lawsuit on February 1, there was only one active Black head coach in the league: Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Tangent

Six Democratic attorneys general sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday threatening to investigate the league over reports the NFL has been a toxic workplace for women.