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NFL is requiring teams to hire women or minorities as coaches for 2022 season
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File photo: Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Steve Wilks walks on the sideline during an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Two Black coaches joined Brian Flores on Thursday in his lawsuit alleging racist hiring practices by the NFL toward coaches and general managers.
The updated lawsuit in Manhattan federal court added coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton.
Wilks alleges he was discriminated against by the Arizona Cardinals in 2018 and Horton claims he was subjected to discriminatory treatment when he interviewed for the Tennessee Titans head coach position in January 2016.
The rewritten lawsuit from Flores also criticized the NFL for its response to the lawsuit he brought against it and its teams several weeks ago.
In a release from the lawsuit’s attorneys, Wilks said he hoped the lawsuit would help bring racial equality to the league.
“When Coach Flores filed this action, I knew I owed it to myself, and to all Black NFL coaches and aspiring coaches, to stand with him,” he said. “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.”
Horton said he was “devastated and humiliated” when he learned that his interview with the Titans was a sham.
“By joining this case, I am hoping to turn that experience into a positive and make lasting change and create true equal opportunity in the future,” he said.
The NFL declined to comment Thursday. Messages sent to the Arizona Cardinals and the Tennessee Titans for comment were not immediately returned.
Flores sued the NFL and three teams on Feb. 1 after he was fired as the Miami Dolphins coach in January after leading the Dolphins to a 24-25 record over three years. They went 9-8 in their second straight winning season, but failed to make the playoffs during his tenure.
He has since been hired as an assistant coach by the Pittsburgh Steelers.