The Chiefs' Eric Bieniemy appeared primed for a head coaching job this offseason but did not get oneGETTY IMAGES
The NFL in "perhaps its most aggressive and controversial attempt to address the issue" of minority hiring will present a pair of resolutions tomorrow during the owners' virtual meeting that it "hopes will level the playing field," according to Jim Trotter of NFL.com. Sources said that the first "would remove the longstanding anti-tampering barrier that permits clubs to block assistant coaches from interviewing for coordinator positions with other clubs, even though having coordinator experience is typically the final and most significant step in becoming a head coach." The second "would incentivize the hiring of minorities as head coaches or primary football executives by rewarding teams with improved draft slots." Sources added that under the proposal, if a team "hires a minority head coach, that team, in the draft preceding the coach's second season, would move up six spots from where it is slotted to pick in the third round." A team "would jump 10 spots under the same scenario for hiring a person of color as its primary football executive." If a team "were to fill both positions with diverse candidates in the same year, that club could jump 16 spots -- six for the coach, 10 for the GM -- and potentially move from the top of the third round to the middle of the second round" (NFL.com, 5/15). A source said that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is "in favor of the proposal, with the diversity committee trying to incentivize teams with a stronger plan" (ESPN.com, 5/15)
A MORE AGGRESSIVE APPROACH: In N.Y., Ken Belson wrote the measures are a "stark departure from the NFL's approach during the past decade and a half, when teams were pushed to interview minority candidates, under the Rooney Rule, but little more." Teams that "exploited loopholes in the recruiting process were rarely penalized." Now, the NFL "wants to take a more aggressive approach to reshaping its highest ranks by using tangible incentives, not penalties, to get teams to hire more nonwhite coaches and general managers in a league in which about 70 percent of the players are African-American" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/16). Fritz Pollard Alliance co-Founder Cyrus Mehri said that the NFL "had not told" the membership organization about the "details of this proposal" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/16).
MISSING THE MARK: YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote the league's diversity solution "isn’t in this ladder game of third-round draft picks." It is "in the mirror" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/15). One NFL personnel employee on the proposal said, “If they’re gonna truly do that, I think that’s great because the Rooney Rule is a joke." Another employee wondered, “Why do you need incentive to go out and hire the best candidate?” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/16). SI.com's Michael Rosenberg wrote under the header, "NFL Misses The Mark With Plan To Incentivize Hiring Minority Coaches, General Managers." Rosenberg: "The roots of the minority-hiring problem are lazy perceptions and people hiring who they know or who looks like them. The best way to combat those, like with many racial problems, is by increasing awareness and comfort levels." More Rosenberg: "Goodell needs to make radical changes to both show he means business and to get better results. His heart may be in a good place. His league is not. And this draft-pick plan, while well-intentioned, is not the answer" (SI.com, 5/15).
LUKEWARM REAX: PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio wrote there has "got to be a better way, a more fair and equitable way, to secure meaningful compliance with the Rooney Rule and to enhance minority hiring without giving teams a reward for making a hire based on race." Florio: "The mere fact that the league is considering such a strange approach reflects its frustration with the inability to coax more diverse hiring practices from its owners" (NBCSPORTS.com, 5/16). USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell does not think the proposal will pass. Bell: "I'm doubting that there are 24 team owners who will sign up for this latest plan to shake up the hiring process" (USA TODAY, 5/17). In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel wrote under the header, "Rooney Rule Proposal To Improve NFL Diversity Hiring Can't Be Serious" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR. 5/17).
A GOOD START? THE ATHLETIC's Lindsay Jones wrote the current proposal "likely isn’t going to be the way to solve the NFL’s diversity problem." However, it "will force a conversation among the NFL’s most powerful decision-makers that is long overdue" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/15). THE UNDEFEATED's Jason Reid wrote it is "highly doubtful the tool, as proposed, would work effectively." The NFL "knows the potential to move up in the third round, or even in some situations into the second round, won’t make a dent in a problem that continues to put the league in an awful light." However, even with the proposal’s "shortcomings, Goodell is endorsing a radical plan" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 5/16). Chargers coach Anthony Lynn on CBS Radio said, “Sometimes you can do the wrong thing while trying to do the right thing." Lynn: “This is out of desperation, this is something that we’re throwing out there, but it is what it is. You can’t make people hire someone they don’t [want] to hire for whatever reason" (N.Y. POST, 5/17).
DIFFERING OPINIONS: NBCSPORTS.com's Peter King writes providing incentives to "do the right thing in a league with an estimated 70 percent players of color is laudable," and Goodell and NFL Exec VP/Football Operations Troy Vincent have "been trying to come up with an aspiring tablet for this splitting headache." Because of this, King writes he was "taken aback by the near-universal condemnation of the proposals in the media and the public" (NBCSPORTS.com, 5/18). In Boston, Gary Washburn offers one such condemnation. Washburn writes, "The fact the NFL is considering draft pick compensation for the hiring of more minority candidates is testament to how tone deaf owners are about going beyond the Good Ol’ Boys network to make hires." More Washburn: "It seems Brian Flores’s success with the Miami Dolphins did nothing to encourage teams to hire or even interview minority candidates" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/18).
