Steve Wilks is currently the defensive coordinator of the 49ers, but he was the coach of the Cardinals in 2018. A funny period on which he was forced to speak last Friday. Car Wilks was to testify in a mediation request filed by Terry McDonough, former Arizona personnel manager, against his former team.
According to Yahoo Sports, Wilks notably confirmed that he and McDonough were ordered to use ‘disposable’ phones to communicate with general manager Steve Keim after the latter was suspended for 5 games by the NFL for driving while intoxicated. . The communication was supposed to be prohibited, but Michael Bidwill, the owner, would have ignored it.
“It was a directive from Keim and Bidwill. They both knew,” Wilks explained. “I, being a coach in my first year, was not comfortable from the beginning with the fact that I had worked so hard to have this opportunity, and that I was put in this situation contrary to the ethics. »
An owner who yells a lot
McDonough reportedly tried to explain to Bidwill his problem with these illegal communications. The response of the boss would then have been violent. Wilks said he witnessed the discussion from afar.
“I don’t know exactly what was said. I was coming out of the training ground, maybe 15 or 20 yards from them. I just heard Michael (Bidwill) yell at McDonough. »
On the side of the franchise, it is ensured that the history of the telephones was the idea of another leader, but especially not of Bidwill. It is also ensured that the owner would have quickly put a stop to things.
“Nobody got the phones back before Keim came back from his suspension, so it wasn’t quick,” Keim retorted on Friday.
There is not just one subject of these illegal telephones that Michael Bidwill would have raised his voice. It was apparently a habit. Keim said he got yelled at several times. Including during a car call, which the son of the coach, aged 9 at the time, attended.
“As soon as he picked up, it was just swearing, and explaining to me how ashamed he was of the team and couldn’t invite friends to see it in the box. »
The boy’s reaction?
“Dad, why is this guy talking to you like that?” »
Atmosphere.
Keim was fired after a 3-13 season. He’s probably happier in San Francisco.
