"We are proud of Our Commitment to Diversity" - Titans release statement in response to Ray Horton's lawsuit

The Tennessee Titans shared a statement after Ray Horton filed a lawsuit against the team.

The team spoke about how proud they are of their commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion:

"No decision was made, and no decision was communicated, prior to the completion of all interviews. While we are proud of Our Commitment to Diversity, we are dedicated to continued growth as an organization to foster diversity and inclusion in our workplace and community."

Mike Mularkey was the Titans' interim head coach for nine games in the 2015 season after the team fired Ken Whisenhunt after Week Eight.

In a podcast that was recorded in 2020, Mularkey stated that the Titans' owners told him he was going to get hired as the next head coach prior to completing the interview process. The interview process included interviewing two minority applicants:

"I've always prided myself on doing the right thing in this business, and I can't say that's true about everybody in this business. It's a very cutthroat business, and a lot of guys will tell you that. I allowed myself, at one point, when I was in Tennessee, to get caught up in something. I regret it, and I still regret it. But the ownership there, Amy Adams Strunk and her family, came in and told me I was going be the head coach in 2016 before they went through the Rooney Rule. And so, I sat there, knowing I was the head coach in '16, as they went through this fake hiring process."

Mularkey concluded his comments by saying that Titans general manager Jon Robinson had no clue why he was interviewing him:

"Knowing a lot of the coaches they were interviewing, knowing how much they prepared to go through those interviews, knowing that everything they could do and they had no chance of getting that job. Actually, the GM, Jon Robinson, he was in on the interview with me. He had no idea why he was interviewing me -- that I had the job already. I regret. I'm sorry I did that. It was not the way to go about it."

The Tennessee Titans and Ray Horton

Horton as Tennessee's defensive coordinator. Source: Nashville Tennessean

The two minority candidates Mularkey mentioned were Ray Horton and Teryl Austin. Currently, Austin is the defensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Horton is retired.

For two years (2014–2015), Horton was the defensive coordinator for the Titans and interviewed for the team's head-coaching vacancy in 2015.

Attorneys had this to say about the interview that Horton was given:

"Completely sham interview done only to comply with the Rooney Rule and to demonstrate an appearance of equal opportunity and a false willingness to consider a minority candidate for the position."

The team hired Mularkey for the position in 2016, and Horton left to be the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns.

With respect to the 2016 head coach search, the Titans said the following:

"Our 2016 head coach search was an open and competitive process during which we conducted in-person interviews with four candidates and followed all NFL rules. The organization was undecided on its next head coach during the process and made its final decision after consideration of all four candidates following the completion of the interviews."

We’ll see how this lawsuit against Tennessee shakes out as more details emerge.