Steve Wilks Testifies Against Steve Keim, Michael Bidwill

Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks wasn't here long in the desert, coaching the team for just one season in 2018 before being fired in favor of college hotshot head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Wilks' Cardinals went 3-13, and owner Michael Bidwill/general manager Steve Keim had seen enough to know they didn't want to move forward.

Fast-forward to present day, where the organization has moved on from Kingsbury with hopes of new head coach Jonathan Gannon turning the ship around. Though Bidwill is still in charge, Keim himself left on the same day Kingsbury did on the first day of the new offseason.

Earlier in the offseason, former VP of personnel Terry McDonough accused Bidwill of defamation and invasion of privacy. Bidwill was also accused by McDonough of cheating, discrimination and harassment.

In recent developments of that case, ESPN has obtained copies of a deposition transcript where Wilks testified against the Cardinals. The following information was gathered by reporter Tisha Thompson:

While Keim was suspended for a DUI, burner phones were obtained and distributed to keep communication lines between members of the organization that included Keim, McDonough, Wilks and Bidwill. "It was a directive from Keim as well as Bidwill," Wilks said in the deposition. "They both knew."
"As much as we would like to share the truth of what transpired, the confidentiality order in place prohibits us from doing so," the Cardinals told ESPN in a statement.
"With me being a first-year head coach, I felt uncomfortable from the beginning that I worked this hard to get to this plateau and this opportunity, and then I was presented with this situation with being unethical," Wilks testified.
Wilks said Bidwill had also berated him multiple times, including a postgame incident that occurred in front of Wilks' 9-year-old son. He was driving home with his son after a game and called Bidwill, he said. "As soon as he picked up, it was just cuss words and how embarrassed he was about the game and can't really, you know, bring friends or take anybody in the box," Wilks said, adding that his son later asked him, "Daddy, why is that guy talking to you like that?"
McDonough has accused Bidwill of chastising him after he introduced three Black players to the owner during a tryout, telling McDonough, "Don't ever do that again." Wilks said he witnessed the interaction and heard Bidwill telling McDonough, "Don't ever do that again," but added, "I didn't know exactly what it was pertaining to."
Wilks also said a scout who is Black told him that he had been berated by Bidwill for parking in the owner's spot, an allegation McDonough previously made in his arbitration complaint.

This article will be updated if further info becomes available.