The Fritz Pollard Alliance will "recommend a formal expansion of the NFL's Rooney Rule in the wake of a hiring cycle that left the league with four minority head coaches and one minority general manager," according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. The FPA will suggest that the rule be "expanded beyond" head coaches and GMs. It also "wants the NFL to mandate that more than one diverse candidate be interviewed for those jobs." The NFL is "expected to consider multiple ideas for enhancing the Rooney Rule this offseason" (ESPN.com, 1/16). In Phoenix, Kent Somers writes 17 years after the Rooney Rule first was introduced, "nothing has changed" for minority candidates in the NFL. The message from ownership is that "people of color are welcome in the locker room, just not in occupying the biggest offices in their organizations." It is clear that "leaving owners to create and follow their own policies hasn't been working." Somers: "Having a policy in place is a good thing, but the NFL needs to take additional steps. A checked box does not equal a changed mind" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/17).
