The NFL season is nearing its end.
But league controversy never stops.
Now the NFL is getting ripped after one coach just got hired.
The “woke” secular religion of DEI (diversity, inclusivity, and equity) have bulldozed so much of society, including the world of professional sports.
Leftists have called for the NFL to be more diverse at the coaching, management, and ownership levels, which is how activists operate; they look for disparities between groups and immediately conclude that injustice has taken place.
In order to boost the number of minority head coaches, the NFL introduced the Rooney Rule, which stated that at least one black coach had to be interviewed for a head-coaching vacancy.
That policy has not produced the equitable numbers the activists wanted, so they implemented a new policy where franchises are awarded draft picks if members of their staff get hired to become head coaches or front office executives elsewhere.
Despite these initiatives, the NFL has not been able to shake the narrative that it is “racist.”
And Frank Reich being hired as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers only intensified that criticism.
The Panthers fired head coach Matt Rhule when the team was 1-4, and interim head coach Steve Wilks, who is black, led the team to a 6-6 finish and a good shot at the NFC South Championship.
However, Wilks was not offered the full-time job; the position went to Reich, who was fired by the Indianapolis Colts this season after 9 games.
Now Wilks has hired an interview to voice his frustration at being passed over for the job for a fellow retread coach.
David Wigdon, Wilks’s attorney, wrote in a statement, “We are shocked and disturbed that after the incredible job Coach Wilks did as the interim coach, including bringing the team back into Playoff contention and garnering the support of the players and fans, that he was passed over for the Head Coach position by David Tepper…There is a legitimate race problem in the NFL, and we can assure you that we will have more to say in the coming days.”
This creates a massive headache for the NFL.
Wilks was a part of Brian Flores’s discrimination lawsuit against the league after Flores was fired by the Miami Dolphins.
Wilks previously coached the Arizona Cardinals for one season before being fired and replaced by Kliff Kingsbury, who had a losing record as a head coach at Texas Tech.
Upon learning Reich got the job, Wilks wrote on Twitter, “The sun rose this morning and by the grace of God so did I. I’m disappointed but not defeated. Many people aren’t built for this but I know what it means to persevere and see it through.”
— Steve Wilks (@ScoreonD) January 27, 2023
The problem that Wilks and other defensive coaches face is that the NFL is an offensive league, and owners are more inclined to hire offensive coaches, particularly those with a reputation for developing quarterbacks.
The NFL implemented yet another initiative that requires teams to have a quota of racial minorities or women on the offensive side of the ball.
Identity politics being force-fed into the league is a disaster happening in slow motion.
The bottom line is that there are so few jobs, and so many people that want them—and are qualified for them.
Someone is always going to feel slighted.
That does not mean something nefarious is afoot.
