This offseason, five NFL teams hired new head coaches. New Redskins head coach Ron Rivera was the only non-white coach to fill one of those vacancies, which drew criticism from some, including Steelers owner Art Rooney II.
“I think where we are right now, is not where we want to be, not where we need to be,” Rooney said recently. “We need to take a step back and look at what’s happening with our hiring processes.”
“As it appears right now, there just weren’t very many minorities in the process at all this year. And I’m not sure why that is,” Rooney continued. “It doesn’t need to be that way. We have about one-third of the coaches in the National Football League are from the minority communities. That’s really not a bad pipeline. And so, the question is, why aren’t more of those people getting interviews? Why aren’t more of those people advancing through the process?”
Established in 2003, the Rooney Rule stipulates that teams must interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching positions. Named after former Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the rule is in place to make sure that candidates of color have a fair shake at climbing the ranks.
When the Rooney Rule was introduced, there were historically very few non-white head coaches in the NFL. Fritz Pollard became the first black head coach in NFL history in the 1920s and the league did not see another minority head coach until 1979 when the Raiders hired Tom Flores.
Since the advent of the Rooney Rule, dozens of qualified minority candidates have been given opportunities to showcase themselves for head coaching positions. However, it’s difficult to say whether that has directly led to a greater number of minority hires. Teams have been accused of interviewing minority candidates simply to check the box.
This was a common complaint against the Raiders a couple of years ago when they reportedly agreed to hire Jon Gruden on Christmas Eve, before they interviewed Oakland tight ends coach Bobby Johnson and USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin for the role in January. Ditto for some of this year’s searches, including the Cowboys. Some say the Cowboys weren’t giving serious consideration to former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis before they hired ex-Packers coach Mike McCarthy. The Fritz Pollard Alliance, which works with the NFL to monitor minority hiring practices, has vowed to push for changes to the rule.
In recent years, the rule has been extended to general manager vacancies. In December 2016, the NFL agreed to informally apply the rule to offensive and defensive coordinator positions, though there are no penalties for noncompliance. If a team is found to have broken the Rooney Rule in a head coaching search, the club may be faced with a substantial fine and/or a forfeiture of draft picks. In the coming months, the Rooney Rule could be expanded even further.
To be fair, about 20-30% teams in the league suck. So coaching them will ruin your chances to work for one that actually tries winning. Would you really want your 1st HC gig to be for the Lions, Jets, Browns, Bengals, or Skins (to name a few)?
Cleveland, today, signed a guy to be their GM that was part of their 0-16 season.
And your last sentence was included why??
Easy, they all did a terrible job for the team and now has an executive role? 1-31 says more than I can ever say myself.
The rule only states you have to interview a minority for a head coaching position. There are only so many of those jobs available in the NFL. It is an important job and teams want to make sure they hire the right person.
If you want to make sure a minority is hired then just change the rule to what they all seemingly want it to be and make it mandatory that every team signs a minority head coach.
Heaven forbid you hire the person you feel is most qualified for the position.
agreed. I bet if it was fliped and 5 hc that were “minorities ” were hired then it would be fine or if all were minorities it would be fine . I just think the nfl and other organizations further increase the divide by placing color as a means to either allow a person to be apart of said organization or push organization to hire based on color rather then how a person performance is or how well they fire with the organization. it seems for many it’s only gonna be fair when minorities run everything when it should always be the best American for the job . I’d love to get on one of those fictional spaceships and go exploring and get away from all this racist crap .
A novel idea, why not allow Team Owners etc. to hire whom they feel is the best qualified candidate regardless of skin color?
Why doesn’t the NFL just get it over with a make a rule that says the league must average 13% African American, 16% Latin/Hispanic, 4% Asian and 66% Caucasian when it comes to all its employees – head coaches, assistant coaches, front office personnel, and players. The end. Then no one can say they discriminate against any of the 4 main races.
If a person has blood from two or more races what group percentage does he count against? I can’t see your suggestion solving anything.
I think the original comment was sarcasm
The Rooney’s are the greatest posers the NFL has ever had. Complete hypocrites and an embarrassment to all the people of Irish decent. It’s great that a rule named after them is treated like a joke.
Why would anyone of Irish descent be embarrassed by anyone else, simply because they’re also of Irish descent? I’m about 50% Irish and don’t care one iota about anyone else of Irish descent unless they’re friends or family. Weird comment.
What a stupid comment
Hmm, can’t reply to my comment, can’t see the upvotes for it, and can’t even reply to the person that replied to it.
I guess somebody has a problem with defining what the Rooney Rule is and how people should have the right to hire who they think is best for the job.
Terrible comment I know. How dare I?
How about making a hiring decision based on skill, qualifications and content of character instead of based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. ?
Exactly. Why does race even have to be a consideration? Hire the coach that’s the best fit for your program. Who cares if he’s white black red or blue. I’d be pissed to be one of the “minority” coaches that had to waste time interviewing just so that particular team could check the box. The Rooney rule is a joke…
The coaches that are getting interviewed simply for the rule compliance should have just one question when they get the phones call.
Do I have the job?
If the answer is no they should just hang up.
When will these morons want women coaches?
If there is a qualified woman coach out there, I would say ASAP. All for it. The best talents in the game should get the positions.