Last Friday, former Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks made a very strong claim about his time in Arizona.
Wilks testified that a team executive gave him a burner phone to communicate with Cardinals general manager Steve Keim during the 2018 season. At that time, Keim was suspended for drunk driving.
According to Wilks, he was ordered by Keim and Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill to use a burner device.
“It was a directive from Keim as well as Bidwill,” Wilks said in the deposition, via ESPN. “They both knew.”
Former AZ Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks testified that a team exec gave him a burner phone to communicate with former GM Steve Keim under orders from Keim & team owner Michael Bidwill during Keim’s suspension, according to a deposition obtained by ESPN. https://t.co/fzoGNIP8H1
— Tisha Thompson (@TishaESPN) August 30, 2023
Wilks has been involved in an ongoing arbitration complaint filed by former Cardinals vice president of personnel Terry McDonough.
Bidwill is facing allegations of gross misconduct, which includes discriminatory and racist treatment of current and former employees. He has called these allegations “outlandish.”
Here’s more details regarding the burner phone allegations, via ESPN:
But Wilks said former Cardinals vice president of football administration Mike Disner gave him a burner phone sometime between July 18 and July 20. Wilks said Disner told him that the two of them, along with Keim, McDonough and Matt Caracciolo, the team’s vice president of football operations and facilities, received burner phones. He said Disner showed him how his phone had been preloaded with “everybody’s initials” and phone numbers. Bidwill himself used a burner phone to communicate with Keim, who had multiple burner phones, according to Wilks.
Wilks said he felt uncomfortable dealing with this situation as a first-year head coach.
This is obviously a bad look for the Cardinals, and the timing isn’t great either. The franchise doesn’t need more distractions as it enters Week 1.