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— Wilkes turns to Lavie Smith, a black coach who used to work in Chicago. Smith was dumped after just one year coaching a Texans team that everyone knew was going to be terrible in the wake of the Deshawn Watson debacle. We provide a link to black coach David Curry who had a one-off treatment.
— which leads us to Matt Rule, a white college coach touted as the next big thing in the NFL. (and, of course, soon landed another lucrative college job in Nebraska). Wilkes took over as interim coach for the Panthers for the last 12 games and has done a great job of cleaning things up.
— Wilkes was in the mix when the Panthers began the interview process for their permanent head coach. — to a pair of playoff appearances that could be the most impressive line on a candidate’s resume. But at this point, Caldwell is just a longtime interviewee who gives the owner a chance to say, “Hey, we’ve considered black candidates.” He didn’t stand a chance in Carolina. He immediately returns to Wilkes.
— Now the game gets a little more complicated. Jeff Saturday was appointed interim coach for the Colts in November. He was completely underwhelmed in his new job with a record of 1-7, but that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the contenders for the full-time position. Saturday’s inclusion in the list of potential candidates sparked such opposition that Indy fans launched a petition demanding they hire someone else for the team.
— How is Saturday represented in the Sixth Degree? Well, he’s the completely unqualified white coach Frank Reich took over after being let go by the Colts. On Thursday, he was announced as the new coach of the…yes, Panthers. After almost leading the team to the playoffs, he improved greatly from a 1-4 start under Roulet.
After Houston fired Smith and Carolina passed Wilkes, the NFL was reduced to just two black head coaches (Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles) in a league with a majority of players black. There are three other minority coaches, including Miami’s Mike McDaniel, who has a black father and identifies as multiracial.)
Even with four vacancies still filled, there’s little reason to be optimistic that much will change.
Wilkes, who has already joined a lawsuit alleging racism in the NFL’s hiring practices, is likely to add Carolina to the case if the outrage from his attorney, Doug Wigder, is any indication.
“We are shocked that Wilkes has been ousted as head coach by David Tepper after he has done an excellent job as interim coach, getting the team back into playoff contention and building support from players and fans. I am feeling uneasy after receiving this,” said Wigdall. “The NFL has legitimate racial issues and I can assure you that we will have more to say in the coming days.”
Things could get even more confusing if Brian Flores gets the cold shoulder among all teams by the Cardinals, who are looking to replace Kingsbury.
As you may remember, Flores is the man who bravely took the league to court shortly after being fired from the Miami Dolphins. Wilkes joined that lawsuit, claiming he was discriminated against by Arizona when he was hired in 2018 without any chance of meaningful success. is difficult.)
Flores, who spent last season on Tomlin’s staff in Pittsburgh, is seen as a frontrunner to return to head coach Arizona. But with former Saints coach Sean Payton now in the mix, it’s no exaggeration to imagine him getting the job.
Courts may be the only shot for black candidates to make the head coach ranks more inclusive. has a history of acquiring
After all, the concussion scandal didn’t hurt the league’s popularity or prosperity. Neither was Colin Kaepernick ostracized after taking a knee to peacefully protest police brutality and racial injustice.
The NFL is always playing the long game and is always looking for ways to dominate American sports like never before.
This is probably the same. Maybe some kind of reconciliation, but no real change.
After all, Steve Wilkes’ Six Degrees probably won’t include his third chance at becoming an NFL head coach.
Paul Newberry is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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