Steve Keim, Arizona Cardinals general manager, was vacationing on a beach on the outer banks of North Carolina during 2017, when a black man approached him.
He had never met the gentleman and, luckily, his first reaction was not one of fear. In fact, a few minutes later Keim was generally impressed with the guy’s outlook on life and football knowledge.
That man turned out to be Steve Wilks, Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator.
Wilks, 48, now works with Keim as head coach of the Cardinals.
Ian Rapoport shared this story on his “Rap Sheet” website and said “Keim was blown away with this impressive dude.”
This cat is so cool he taped a video for Cardinals fans, the Bird Gang, minutes after his hiring. You’ll recognize a phrase used by that other Cardinals franchise and one that is common to the Oakland Raiders.
“I’m so excited about being a part of something great here. It’s all about trying to create a commitment to excellence. I can’t wait to see you guys at the red sea,” he said while wearing a sharp black suit.
While this will be Wilks first head coaching gig, four of the last six Cardinals coaches were in the same position. The recently retired Bruce Arians had less than a year’s experience as a head coach as the interim leader of the Indianapolis Colts for 12 games in 2012.
Wilks was assistant head coach and in charge of defensive backs in 2015 when the Carolina Panthers blasted the Cardinals 49-15 in the NFC Championship game. He was named defensive coordinator following that season.
Mike Jones of USA TODAY wrote on Monday, “Former players of his love Wilks. Describe him as a great leader, puts players in position to succeed and trusts, which motivates them. They say he’ll be a star.”
While Pat Shurmur, the New York Giants new head coach, might have been the Cardinals first interview, Wilkes should not be considered a second choice.
The Cardinals were reportedly interested in Shurmur because of his work as offensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings and the chance he could lure free-agent quarterback Case Keenum to Arizona.
The mediocre Keenum we had grown accustomed to as a member of the Rams showed up in the NFC Championship game at Philadelphia – not the one who played at All-Pro level in 2017. Shurmur’s game plan was also thoroughly trashed by the Eagles’ defense.
The Cardinals got the best man for the job – and could easily now target Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater instead of Keenum on the free agent market.
It also should be noted that the Panthers hired Eric Washington, a black coach in charge of the team’s defensive line, to replace Wilks as defensive coordinator.
The black head coaching ranks lost Jim Caldwell in Detroit, but gained Wilks in Arizona. Barring any changes between now and next September, the number of black head coaches will remain at seven.
That’s not bad, folks.
TIDE rising in NFL for blacks
In a season that saw politically manufactured controversy by the Trump administration concerning a small percentage of black players demonstrating their 1st Amendment rights by kneeling during the national anthem, the NFL earned an “A” for racial hiring practices on the annual report card by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida.
“The NFL had significant gains for people of color as head coaches and general managers, the two positions most closely watched in the report card,” said Richard Lapchick, TIDES director and the study’s primary author.
The NFL office under Commissioner Roger Goodell, which was under constant criticism throughout the season, also increased its diversity in 2017.
“The NFL continued to have good results on racial hiring practices and improvement in gender hiring at the senior level in the League Office where the number of women and people of color at or above the vice president level continued to increase. In 2015, there were 21 people of color at or above the VP level. In 2016, there were 24 and in 2017, that number jumped to 31 people of color,” according to the study.
Other highlights of the study include:
There were eight head coaches of color in 2017, two more than last season’s total. Six of them were black. Ron Rivera, a Latino, remains at the helm of the Carolina Panthers. There were six general managers, or executive performing the role of GM at the start of the 2017 season, an increase from five in 2016. Two were fired during the 2017 season, though.
The increase of women in management positions in the league office in 2017 reached a milestone. Previously, they held 31.6 percent of the positions. In 2017, the percentage increased to 35.4 percent, which is the highest in the report’s history.
The Jacksonville Jaguars (Shahid Khan) and Buffalo Bills (Kim Pegula) both had a majority owner of color. Khan is of Pakistani descent. Pegula, who co-owns the Bills with husband Terry, was born in South Korea, orphaned and is of Japanese descent.
The percentage of assistant coaches of color dropped from 31.9 percent in 2016 to 31.4 percent in the 2017 season. There was also a slight decline in African-American coordinators, as the number dropped from 14 to 13 African-Americans.
Katie Sowers was hired by the 49ers as an assistant wide receivers coach for this season, making her the second female coach in the NFL. She is also the first open LGBT coach in NFL history.
Nine teams employed multiple vice presidents of color in 2017 while 28 teams employed multiple women vice presidents in 2017.
The NFL had 38 game officials of color. This matched the all-time high of 38 officials of color in 2016.
While the NFL can celebrate its ‘A’ in racial hiring, it received just a “C” in gender hiring.
Lapchick explained, saying, “The number of women in significant decision-making positions in the League Office continued to grow. However, at the team level they are still poorly represented at the senior positions. The good news on the teams is that women hit an all-time high in professional positions.”
Soul in South Korea
Maame Biney, 17, will walk with the American team during the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea after already making history.
In December in Salt Lak City, Utah, she became the first black woman to qualify for the short track speed skating U.S. Olympic Team.
“I don’t really feel pressure to be the first to get a medal or anything like that,” she told the Huffington Post.
“I just want to go out there, do my best and have fun, and experience the Olympics. That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to win, obviously, but also have fun.”
Biney, who was born in Ghana and is American citizen, will not be alone in making black athletic history at the Pyeongchang Games.
Erin Jackson, is one of the fastest female inline skaters in America. She never attempted to move to the ice for several reasons including a fear of crashing. Four months before the U.S. Olympic long-track trials, she decided to give it a shot and began training.
The long-shot, long-track skater shocked herself and the world.
In the first of two 500-meter races, she set a personal-best 39.22 seconds. An hour later, she went 39.04, earning the third of three spots on the U.S. team and making her the first black woman to achieve the feat.
“It’s just been crazy,” she told the Milwaukee Journal. “I’m still kind of processing it. To be ready for something like this, you have to have sort of an idea that it could happen, right? I didn’t have much of an idea, so it’s just kind of thrown on me.”
To say her future is bright is an understatement. While 25 is older for an Olympian, Jackson is a University of Florida graduate with a degree in materials engineering. She’s plans a career in the bio-med field.
Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, is a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and can also be heard on Frank Cusumano’s “The Press Box.” His Twitter handle is @aareid1.
