While he didn't mention specifically how, Goodell stressed the Rooney Rule must be improvedgetty images
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in his State of the League address yesterday, conceded that the Rooney Rule "isn't working" to increase diversity among coaching and front office hires, according to Ann Killion of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Goodell: "Clearly, we are not where we want to be. It's clear we need to change and do something different. There's no reason to expect we're going to have a different outcome next year without those kinds of changes." Killion writes this offseason was "yet another when diversity took a backseat in hiring." With five head coaching openings, "only one was filled by a minority candidate: Ron Rivera, a long-established NFL coach." All four of the other openings "went to white coaches" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/30). ESPN.com's Dan Graziano noted Goodell offered "few specifics on the changes he's discussing." However, he indicated that he is "soliciting a number of outside sources to discuss whether the league needs to revise the Rooney Rule." Goodell: "Not just with our diversity committee, not just with the Fritz Pollard Alliance, but others, and trying to figure out what steps we can take next that would lead to better outcomes" (ESPN.com, 1/29).
COORDINATED EFFORT: In DC, Mark Maske notes many have "suggested changes to the Rooney Rule." The NFL previously "extended the rule to cover some coordinator vacancies on an informal basis, without penalties for noncompliance." The rule could be further extended to "include all coordinator openings on a formal basis, with penalties for any teams that don't comply." That idea would "represent an attempt to diversify the candidate pool for head coaching jobs" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/30). Rivera said getting more minority coaches in the NFL "begins with the development." He added, "We’ve got to continue to create more opportunities where we can see young minority coaches get more opportunities to develop. That’s probably the first big step." Rivera said there has "got to be advocates for people," and the "truth is, we get in such a hurry to get stuff done that we just kind of go through the motions, and that’s a little bit unfortunate because there are a lot of good coaches out there, minorities and non-minorities, that do deserve opportunities" (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 1/30). Falcons Owner Arthur Blank said, "There needs to be more of a pipeline of coordinators … and that will create the opportunities but it has to be very intentional and it’s not going to happen by itself." He added, "Owners really basically feel strongly that that’s what should happen, but they have to have the discipline to make those decisions and create those opportunities" (“Super Bowl Live,” NFL Network, 1/29).
GOODELL'S CHANGE ATTEMPT: NFL Network's Judy Battista said of Goodell's take on the Rooney Rule, "It was the most pointed thing that a league official has said about the situation in quite a few years. That was him basically saying, 'I don't believe the owners can be trusted to change on their own so we're going to have to force change upon them,' and he basically said it would be foolish to expect anything to change without the league stepping in and trying to do something." NFL Net's Michael Silver said Goodell "cares deeply about this and I know that it bothers him too, and he's at the point where he's trying to figure out how to do something about it" ("Super Bowl Live," NFL Network, 1/29). ESPN’s Adam Schefter said, "There's a lack of candidates or the league hasn't done a good enough job finding these candidates and bringing them along and maybe that's where the league’s attention and efforts need to go to bring along the next chapter, the next group of candidates so that it doesn't find itself in a position where it seems like it's going backwards and not forwards when it comes to minority hiring." ESPN’s Louis Riddick: “You can have the most qualified candidate staring an owner in the face, and if he doesn't want to hire him, he's not going to hire him. So how do you change that behavior, how do you change that decision-making process on the part of owners who are the ones who are driving this?” (“NFL Live,” ESPN, 1/29).
NEEDS SOME HELP: In Las Vegas, Ed Graney writes the issue is that there "isn't much" Goodell can do. Short of "fining or withholding draft picks from teams that don't hire minorities -- steps that would and should never be taken -- the NFL's power is nil." Graney: "You hope more diversity would find top positions in a league in which 70 percent of players are black. You want things to be more progressive. But at day's end, an owner has the right to make any hire deemed best by the organization" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 1/30). ESPN's Mike Golic said, "At the end of the day, it’s the team’s decision.” He added, "You can’t force a team to hire a minority, nor do any of these minority coaches want it that way" (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 1/30). THE UNDEFEATED's Jason Reid wrote the "reality is Goodell is an employee of the billionaire owners who control the NFL" and there is "only so much he can do" with the Rooney Rule. Goodell "needs much more buy-in from the people who pay his big salary." Reid: "Without it, the change Goodell insists he wants doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of occurring" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 1/29).
WORTHY CANDIDATES: In Philadelphia, Domowitch & McLane note one "highly-regarded minority candidate who came up empty" was Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who interviewed for the Giants, Panthers and Browns jobs but "didn't get any." Bienemy said of being passed up for the head coaching jobs, "There's always disappointment. But I'll say this: The interview process was great. Would you have loved to come away with one of the jobs? Yes, you would. But the process, the learning experience, and on top of that, still having the opportunity to work with one of the better head coaches in this league, that's what I look forward to" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 1/30). 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said that he "'absolutely' remains confident that as he attempts to take the next step in his coaching career, he will be judged fairly by those doing the hiring." Saleh said, "I do have faith in the process. And I do believe that this league is great for a reason. And so I don't have any issue with the way anything is going" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/30).
