Interviewing Bieniemy could be seen by some as the Bucs simply complying with the Rooney Rule GETTY IMAGES
Buccaneers GM Jason Licht has met with Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy about the team's open head coach position, and while some may suspect the team is "going through the motions by talking to Bieniemy, who is black," the Glazer family history "suggests otherwise," according to Martin Fennelly of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. Looking past a candidate's skin color has "always been a Glazer strength." Former Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy "thinks the Glazers have embodied the spirit of the Rooney Rule," also hiring African-American head coaches Raheem Morris and Lovie Smith in previous years. Dungy said, "What Dan Rooney envisioned in all this is leaving no stone unturned. The end goal is not necessarily to hire a minority candidate, it's to have the best person for the job." But Fennelly notes minority candidates "still fight to get noticed, especially in today's boom-zoom NFL, since many of them are assistants on the defensive side of the ball." Dungy: "We've got this infatuation right now that offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches are the only ones who can be head coaches now. If that's the case, it's a tough road" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 1/4).
ADDRESSING THE ISSUES: In Boston, Alex Reimer noted there are currently "only two African-American" head coaches right now across the league in Anthony Lynn (Chargers) and Mike Tomlin (Steelers), and that is a "big problem." Reimer: "This is about opportunity, and right now, it’s apparent minority candidates are getting grossly overlooked. ... This problem doesn’t seem like it’s ending any time soon." The Rooney Rule in recent years "started to become a box for team executives to check off during their coaching searches." Reimer: "No more." Presumably, there is "more than one black person in the world who can put together an NFL roster," but they "aren’t given the chance to get through the door" (WEEI.com, 1/3).
STARTS AT THE TOP? In N.Y., Carron Phillips writes the structure within NFL that "creates this scenario" is the "architects behind it, aka the owners." It "seems as though the owners selected the perfect puppet" in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. When he took over 13 years ago, there were a "total of seven minority head coaches and four minority general managers in the league." Now there are only "three minority head coaches and two minority GMs." Phillips: "That’s because the Rooney Rule is dead." The Raiders last week hired Mike Mayock as GM after reaching out to two minority candidates in former Giants execs Jerry Reese and Marc Ross. Phillips: "But in the end, it was all for show." Meanwhile, of the 15 people on the NFL's Workplace Diversity Committee and Career Development Advisory Panel, "only four of them are black." Phillips: "It’s kind of hard to have diversity throughout a league that has a diversity committee that’s not diverse" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/4). The Undefeated’s Jason Reid said there are "clearly" problems with the Rooney Rule, though the league and Goodell have "acknowledged they haven't done a good enough job." But the "problem" is that Goodell "doesn't hire head coaches, owners hire head coaches” (“OTL,” ESPN, 1/2). ESPN’s Bomani Jones: “Most of the black coaches that got fired (this year), it was unquestionably defensible. ... (But) I don't think it's likely that any person of color gets hired in this cycle." Jones added that with Tomlin on a "fairly warm seat" in Pittsburgh, next season there "could be one coach of color in the whole league, and that’s not good” (“High Noon,” ESPN, 1/2).
