Last week, Brian Flores’ scathing lawsuit against the NFL received some much-deserved support.
Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks, and former Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton, added their names to Flores’ federal lawsuit which accused the NFL, and its 32 teams, of discrimination against African Americans in their hiring practices.
Wilks was hired in 2018 by the Cardinals and handed quarterback Josh Rosen. Needless to say, the team fared poorly (3-13) and Wilks was fired at the end of the season.
As is the norm, the team then drafted a franchise quarterback in 2019 (Kyler Murray) and then gave both the reins and the proper time to build a team to a new (white) coach (Kliff Kingsbury). Arizona also traded for Deandre Hopkins, a move that also contributed to their success.
Those moves are luxuries seldom granted to Black head coaches.
We saw it with Anthony Lynn, David Culley and Brian Flores.
Lynn finally got Justin Herbert. A year later, he was fired.
Bill O’Brien’s decision to trade Hopkins severely hampered first-year head coach David Culley in 2021.
Brian Flores posted two back to back winning seasons, was fired, and then the team made moves to acquire Tyreek Hill.
It always feels like once Black head coaches guide their teams through the fire and right the ship, they’re relieved of their duties.
And many times they’re replaced by white coaches despite their success.
It’s the plight of the Black head NFL coach to fall victim to the “cleanup man” role.
Or as Wilks put it, he became a “bridge coach.”
Horton faced a similar path, only he was intertwined with owners dancing around the Rooney Rule.
Before the start of the 2016 season, Horton applied for the Titans’ head coaching job. He was already the team’s defensive coordinator and had over 20 years of NFL coaching experience, so he had the skill set and familiarity with the team.
Yet Horton was passed over in favor of interim coach, Mike Mularkey, who went on to coach the team to a 20-21 record over three seasons.
Now both Wilks and Horton have joined Flores lawsuit, and from the sounds of things, they have good reason to.
Wilks claimed that he was a “bridge coach” in 2018 and that the team GM Steve Keim “made poor personnel decisions.”
This is eerily reminiscent of Todd Bowles’ experience as the Jets head coach, where poor drafts and bad personnel decisions by GM Mike Maccagnan contributed heavily to Bowles’ downfall.
As for Horton, his frustrations reignited when Mike Mularkey’s comments from a 2020 podcast recently resurfaced.
Mularkey disclosed that Titans ownership already let him know he had the job before Horton was interviewed, but they had to satisfy the Rooney Rule before they could make the announcement.
“When I learned from Coach Mularkey’s statements that my head coach interview with the Titans was a sham, I was devastated and humiliated,” said Horton in a statement.
Wilks and Horton recognize the significance, and possible repercussions, of joining Flores’ lawsuit, which is exactly why they agreed to add their weight to it.
“Like Brian and Ray, I did not make the decision to join this lawsuit based on what it could potentially cost me in my own career,” Wilks said in a statement. “Instead, this decision was made to help pave the way for the next generation of talented minority coaches and executives to finally be given an equal opportunity and level playing field.”
The last part should be read out loud and screamed from every building and stadium.
These are the types of decisions that affect change, or at least force reactions.
We witnessed it through Black athletes such as Muhammad Ali and Curt Flood. We saw it most recently with Colin Kaepernick.
But we hadn’t seen it from a Black NFL head coach until Brian Flores’ courageous act on February 1st, 2022.
His lawsuit opened the floodgates, and now it’s time for other Black coaches to join Flores, Wilks and Horton.
Now is the time for Black coaches to voice the ugly part out loud for all to hear.
It’s been explored and debated numerous times by the media. Bomani Jones exposed it in a NFL Black coaches and nepotism segment in his recent “Game Theory” episode.
But we’ve never had it materialize through the tangible actions of Black coaches.
Now we do.
So Black coaches, this is your opportunity to detail what we’ve all known.
Anthony Lynn, Jim Caldwell, Raheem Morris, Leslie Frazier, David Culley, Eric Bieniemy- give your voices to Flores’ lawsuit.
Strengthen it with the embarrassment and frustration that you’ve endured for years while watching white coaches secure the positions you’re equally, if not more, qualified for.
Give us your versions of the sham interviews that you’ve partaken in so that they can be legally documented.
We know they happen. Bill Belichick’s twitter faux pas and now Mike Mularkey’s disclosure have proven that.
I know it’s not easy, especially because your career might jeopardized or completely torpedoed.
But the proof you provide through testimony could be the long needed leverage that finally cracks the impervious wall that has protected the NFL for so long. It could become the legal credence that changes the systemic racial issues that plague the NFL and harm Black coaching advancement.
The time is now Black coaches. Be the change for you and those behind you.
