“I sat there knowing that I was the coach in ’16, as they went through this fake hiring process knowing a lot of the coaches that they were interviewing, knowing how much they prepared to go through those interviews, knowing everything they could do and they have no chance at getting that job,” Mularkey said to “Inside Pro Football Podcast.” He added that it was his biggest regret in his career.
Over three seasons, Mularkey coached the Titans to a 20-21 record. Horton, 61, coached two more seasons: as defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns in 2016 and as defensive backs coach with Washington in 2019. Horton is still seeking work in the N.F.L., but said in the complaint that he was viewed as a “stale” candidate and that he had not been called to interview for any head coach job openings.
“When I learned from Coach Mularkey’s statements that my head coach interview with the Titans was a sham, I was devastated and humiliated,” Horton said in a statement.
He added: “Although I know that I am taking a risk being associated with this case, it would be a bigger risk to stand on the sideline and give the N.F.L. a pass for the systemic discrimination that has harmed me and so many others.”
The N.F.L. declined to comment.
The claims by Wilks and Horton echo allegations Flores made in his original complaint, and in the new amendment Flores elaborated on the fallout following his decision to file the case in February. Before being hired by the Dolphins in 2019, Flores said, he sat for what he called a “sham” interview with executives from the Denver Broncos. In that meeting, Flores said, John Elway, then the team’s general manager, and Joe Ellis, the team’s president, and others showed up an hour late. Flores felt the only reason he was interviewed was so the team could comply with the Rooney Rule, an assertion the team denied. Elway called Flores’s characterization “false and defamatory.”
After Flores was fired by the Dolphins at the end of the 2021 season, he interviewed for other head coaching positions, including with the Giants. In his original complaint, Flores said he had been “humiliated in the process as the New York Giants subjected him to a sham interview in an attempt to appear to provide a Black candidate with a legitimate chance at obtaining the job.”
