Former Cardinals HC Steve Wilks & DC Ray Horton Joining Brian Flores’ Lawsuit

According to Adam Schefter, former Cardinals HC Steve Wilks and former Cardinals DC Ray Horton are joining Brian Flores’ discrimination lawsuit against the NFL. 

Wilks was fired by the Cardinals after just one season and replaced with current HC Kliff Kingsbury, who had little to no NFL coaching experience at the time. His experiences in Arizona figure prominently in his claims. 

Wilks’ claims are in part as follows: 

The complaint of Steve Wilks: pic.twitter.com/hYuatuXlhw

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 7, 2022

And Horton’s, who says he felt his head coaching interview with the Titans in 2016 was done solely to fulfill the Rooney Rule: 

The complaint of Ray Horton: pic.twitter.com/Htf0IbiP6v

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 7, 2022

Flores filed a class action suit against the league and teams including the Dolphins, Giants, Broncos and Texans claiming that he was offered money to tank in Miami and was discriminated against as a head coaching candidate. 

It was the boiling over mark for frustrations among Black coaches in the NFL who have felt for a long time they don’t get a fair shake when it comes to head coaching jobs, and the lack of Black head coaches supports their point. 

Wilks is a defensive assistant with the Panthers. Horton does not appear to be coaching anywhere. 

Wilks, 52, began his NFL coaching career with the Bears as their defensive backs coach back in 2006. He spent two years with the Chargers before following Ron Rivera to Carolina as their defensive backs coach.

The Panthers promoted him to assistant head coach in 2015 and then to defensive coordinator last year after Sean McDermott took the Bills’ job. Wilks agreed to become the Cardinals’ head coach in 2018 but he was fired after one season.

Wilks took over as the Browns’ defensive coordinator in 2019. He was not retained in 2020 under a new staff, though he interviewed for the DC position. Wilks had a stint with Missouri as their defensive coordinator before returning to the NFL with the Panthers this offseason. 

In 2019, the Browns’ defense ranked No. 22 best in yards allowed, No. 22 in points allowed, No. 12 in rushing yards allowed, and No. 22 in passing yards allowed.

Horton, 61, began his NFL coaching career back in 1994 as an assistant for Washington. He’s worked for several teams over the years including the Bengals, Lions, Steelers, Cardinals and Titans before taking over as the Browns’ defensive coordinator in 2016 after they hired Hue Jackson.

The Browns fired Horton a year later. He had a one-year stint back with Washington as the DB coach in 2019. 

In 2016, the Browns’ defense was No. 30 in points allowed, No. 31 in rushing yards allowed, No. 32 in passing yards allowed and No. 31 in total yards allowed under Horton.

We’ll have more on the lawsuit as the news is available.