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The National Football League dominates American entertainment and culture. Sports opinion polls consistently show that pro football is the favorite sport in this country by a ratio of 2 to 1. It’s also the most popular show on television — over half of Nielsen’s top-rated shows are contests or pregame telecasts . For a sport where most of the participants are minorities (especially African-Americans), very few minorities actually exist in positions of power in the NFL.
Diversity among NFL executives has been a persistent problem that the league has been trying to correct since 2003 with the implementation of the Rooney Rule. That rule originally required at least one minority candidate to be interviewed in a serious manner for a head coaching vacancy. The results of these efforts have been mixed since their implementation. In 2017, the NFL had eight minority coaches; but earlier this offseason there were only three minority head coaches, and the only black head coach was Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin. The only other black coach in 2021, Brian Flores, was fired by the Miami Dolphins after going 24-25 over three seasons. Flores claims he was paid “$100,000 for every loss” by Miami owner Stephen Ross and is suing the NFL alleging bias in its hiring practices.
Since its implementation nearly two decades ago, the NFL has updated the Rooney Rule several times. In 2020, the NFL updated the rule to require teams to “interview at least two outside minority candidates for head coaching positions.” They even incentivized teams to do so by rewarding them with extra picks for hiring minority candidates.
This year, the league changed the rule again to include women in its definition of “minority.” It went on to expand the Rooney Rule just last month to require interviews with minority candidates for quarterback coaching jobs. The NFL also mandated that all teams have a minority coach as part of their offensive coaching staff to work closely with the head coach. Offensive coaches have been the most sought-after head coaching candidates over the past decade. The goal of all these changes is to put more minority coaches at the top of the head coaching candidate list.
As the 2022 offseason progresses, the number of minority head coaches in the league has grown to six. The Miami Dolphins traded Flores for longtime Kyle Shanahan backup Mike McDaniels. The Houston Texans hired their former defensive coordinator and former NFL head coach Lovie Smith for the vacant head coaching position. Similarly, Tampa Bay named its defensive coordinator and former NFL head coach Todd Bowles as its head coach after Bruce Arians moved into the role of senior football consultant. Robert Saleh of the Jets and Ron Rivera of the Commanders are also minorities, making six of the 32 teams.
The NFL took a step forward last month to spur the process by launching its first diversity networking workshop for minority coaches. Attendees were treated to brief meetings with team managers and owners. 60 potential head coaches and executives attended. The workshop gave these candidates the opportunity to connect and establish a personal relationship with the specific individuals doing the hiring and create a comfort level with the individuals responsible for the hiring.
While these efforts are steps in the right direction, there is still no formal mandate for teams to interview minority candidates for offensive, defensive and special teams coordinator positions. Coordinators are often seen as the position next in line for a head coaching job. To truly increase the number of minority head coaches, it is critical to increase the number of minorities at the coordinator level. The more minority assistant coaches and coordinators are hired, the more qualified candidates are available for interviews with head coaches down the line.
Another shortcoming of the NFL’s approach thus far has been the lack of specificity about what the desired number of minority coaches looks like across the league. What are the league’s goals with these efforts? Is diversity defined by hiring coaches at a rate that reflects the percentage of players who are minorities? Or is the reference point the percentage that minorities make up of the total population of the country? If it’s the former, the league has a long way to go to show its players that it’s committed to uplifting the voices of people who look like them by putting them in positions of power and leadership in the NFL. If it’s the latter, an argument can be made that so far these efforts have been substantial.
So far, significant progress has been made in creating a more skilled pool. Fifteen of the defensive coordinators for the 2022 season are black, and 39 percent of the overall assistant coaches are black, the highest percentage ever. In 2017, the NFL hired its first black female coach, Colette V. Smith, to coach the New York Jets’ linebackers during training camp. There are now 12 female coaches, also the highest number ever. There are seven minority general managers or senior team leaders, though that number still needs to increase.
On Wednesday, the Cowboys will open training camp in Oxnard, Calif., with all the focus on improving their game and winning games. This is the way it should be. But the league’s bigger picture must include fairness and opportunity among team management.
Ultimately, the onus is on NFL owners and executives to give minority talent a chance to perform. In the win-now pressure cooker that looks set to result in more turnover in the coaching and management ranks, there will be ample opportunity to increase the pool.
Lee Steinberg is a sports agent and author who has represented more than 300 professional athletes, including the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft a record eight times. He is often considered the inspiration for the character Jerry Maguire in the 1996 film of the same name. He wrote this for The Dallas Morning News.
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