Former Cardinals OL Coach Sean Kugler Files Request for Arbitration After Firing

Former Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach Sean Kugler has filed a request for arbitration after being fired in November.

Kugler was fired during the team's trip to Mexico City for the Week 11 game against the San Francisco 49ers. According to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN, he allegedly groped a woman on the Sunday night before the Monday Night Football game and was immediately sent home before the game.

At the time, head coach Kliff Kingsbury said he was "really limited" in what he could discuss until the legal process played out.

In Friday's press release from law firm Shields Petitti, Kugler called the "mysterious allegations" a result of "miscommunication or mistaken identity."

"The allegations against Coach Kugler are simply untrue and have caused Sean, his wife and family enormous personal and professional damage," attorney Michael Petitti said. "Coach and his family have been desperate to understand from the Cardinals' front office and others what rationale or evidence was used to terminate him for cause."

The Cardinals responded Friday:

Kugler had been with the Cardinals since 2019, holding the role of run game coordinator this season.

The veteran coach also had NFL stints with the Detroit Lions (2001-05), Buffalo Bills (2007-09), Pittsburgh Steelers (2010-12) and Denver Broncos (2018) and spent five seasons as head coach at UTEP (2013-17).

Arizona has fallen to 4-9 after three straight losses and just lost starting quarterback Kyler Murray for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.