Why has the 'Rooney Rule' not produced more Black coaches?

• Published date: 11 February 2022
• Publication title: The China Post

The NFL's uneven track record in terms of hiring minority head coaches has come under fire following a class-action federal lawsuit filed by former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores.

Flores, who is Black, sued the NFL, three teams and others, claiming the league's hiring practices for coaches and general managers is racist and that the league is 'rife with racism' even as it publicly condemns it. More than 70% of the players in the NFL are non-white.

Flores' lawsuit comes nearly 20 years after the NFL instituted what is known as the 'Rooney Rule,' which initially required teams to interview at least one external minority candidate for a head coaching vacancy.

Critics say it simply does not lead to head coaching jobs for minority candidates and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged the league is 'not having the success we want.'

A look at how the NFL got here and possible solutions to an issue that is not unique to the league.

WHAT IS THE ROONEY RULE?

Adopted by the NFL in 2003, the mandate is named for Dan Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers owner and one of the league's most progressive leaders during his near lifelong affiliation with the NFL.

The initial iteration required teams to interview at least one external minority candidate for each head coaching vacancy. The rule now requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates at several levels of leadership, including general manager and other comparable front office positions.

DOES IT WORK?

While there may be more minority candidates getting interviews now than ever before, they are not necessarily landing head coaching jobs with any greater frequency than they were two decades ago.

There were two Black coaches in the NFL in 2002, the year before the rule was adopted. That number has hovered between 3-6 in a 32-team league where seven of every 10 players is a minority.

At the moment, there are five minority head coaches: Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh), Ron Rivera (Washington), Lovie Smith (Houston), Robert Saleh (New York Jets) and Mike McDaniels (Miami). Smith and McDaniels were hired this week.

A look at coaching staffs offers promise. More than a third of NFL assistants were minorities in 2021, according to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. Yet there were only two Black offensive coordinators this season, a job considered the final step of the ladder before becoming a head coach.

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, an attorney, calls the rule more of a...