Additional Black Coaches join Brian Flores’ class action lawsuit against the NFL

Two new Black coaches with significant NFL experience have joined the class-action lawsuit of former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores that accuses the league and its teams of discrimination and paying lip service to minority hiring rules.

The litigation was joined by Steve Wilks, a former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, and Ray Horton, who was most recently the defensive backs coach for the team now known as the Washington Commanders. Attorneys also allege in the amended complaint that the Texans “retaliated” against Flores by removing him from consideration for their 2022 head-coaching vacancy “due to his decision to file this action and speak publicly about systemic discrimination in the NFL.”

Wilks was in charge in Arizona in 2018 when the Cardinals finished 3-13. The suit says Wilks “was discriminated against by the Arizona Cardinals” by being hired merely as a “bridge coach” and “not given any meaningful chance to succeed,” Flores’ amended lawsuit contends. Arizona went on to replace Wilks with Kliff Kingsbury, a former head coach at Texas Tech University who had no NFL coaching experience. Kingsbury, who is white, went 35-40 in six college seasons, a sub-.500 mark. The Cardinals are a playoff contender under Kingsbury and quarterback Kyler Murray. “Mr. Wilks, given the same opportunity afforded to Mr. Kingsbury, surely would have succeeded as well,” according to the lawsuit. Wilks is now the defensive passing game coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. 

The Cardinals said in a statement, “The decisions we made after the 2018 season were very difficult ones. But as we said at the time, they were entirely driven by what was in the best interests of our organization and necessary for team improvement. We are confident that the facts reflect that and demonstrate that these allegations are untrue.”

As for Horton, he was the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans when he alleges he was put through a sham interview for the head job in Nashville to satisfy the NFL’s “Rooney Rule” requirement to interview minority candidates. Horton alleges he was at home in Phoenix when he was called on Jan. 15, 2016, and told to board a last-second, late-night flight to Tennessee to meet with Amy Adams Strunk, the controlling owner of the Titans, to interview for the head coaching spot.

The entire suit is filed against the league, the Miami Dolphins, the Denver Broncos, N.Y. Giants, Houston Texans, the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, plus 26 other “John Doe” NFL teams. The Titans, Cardinals, and Texans were added to the suit as part of the amendment as well.

For Wilks, he says, “This lawsuit has shed further important light on a problem that we all know exists, but that too few are willing to confront. 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.”

The initial lawsuit filed by Flores drew applause as well as criticism, however, he is no longer alone, which will keep the spotlight on the NFL and the door open for any new allegations that may surface.