Former Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks has joined Brian Flores’ lawsuit claiming that Black coaches have been subjected to racial discrimination in the NFL. The Cardinals say there’s no merit to Wilks’ claims.
“The decisions we made after the 2018 season were very difficult ones,” the team’s statement said. “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.”
Wilks says he was brought in with the idea that he would be nothing more than a “bridge coach” for one difficult year, that the Cardinals saddled him with rookie quarterback Josh Rosen when he wanted to trade up for Josh Allen, and that they were eager to move on from him and replace him with Kliff Kingsbury.
Wilks went 3-13 in his one season in Arizona. He is currently the defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach of the Panthers.