The Browns made a high-profile minority hire this offseason, making Andrew Berry their GMGETTY IMAGES
The changes to the Rooney Rule that the NFL enacted at their owners meeting yesterday are “good and logical steps in what needs to be an ongoing discussion about how to improve a problem that should have been solved years ago,” according to Greg Moore of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The NFL knows it “had to do something and that acknowledgment led” to the improvements announced yesterday. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “While we have seen positive strides in our coaching ranks over the years ... we recognize after the last two seasons that we can and must do more” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/20). Falcons President Rich McKay “acknowledged that the NFL has current problems with diversity in hiring.” He said, “We all have to understand that where we are today is not acceptable. We need to be better than this on the diversity front. We need to be intentional about trying to be better on that front” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 5/20).
BREAKING DOWN THE CHANGES: The league yesterday rejected a controversial expansion of the Rooney Rule that would have rewarded teams with better draft picks for hiring minority head coaches or top football execs. However, the league did make other changes to rules designed to encourage diversity in hiring in both the football and business sides of clubs. Those include:
- Teams will no longer be allowed to block assistant coaches from interviewing for coordinator jobs with other teams.
- Clubs must now interview at least one minority or woman for club president and senior execs in communications, finance, HR, legal, football ops, sales, marketing, sponsorship, IT and security positions.
- Teams must interview two external minority candidates for head coach vacancies, up from one.
- Teams are required to interview one external minority candidate for any offensive, defensive or special teams coordinator position.
- All teams will offer full-time coaching fellowships geared toward minorities and woman that will last one or two years.
- Clubs must submit an organization-wide diversity and inclusion plan to the league (Ben Fischer, THE DAILY).
DRAFT-PICK PROPOSAL NOT GONE....: While the owners tabled the draft-pick proposal, Goodell said, “We table resolutions frequently because the discussion leads to other areas that can make it more effective” (L.A. TIMES, 5/20). USA TODAY’s Jarrett Bell reports Goodell “insisted that just because the draft currency measure wasn’t voted on doesn’t mean it didn’t have enough support.” He maintained that the proposal “spurred more ideas about how to deal with the sticky issue.” NFL Exec VP/Football Operations Troy Vincent said, “We got people’s attention” (USA TODAY, 5/19). Vincent added, “There’s no rush for this. Let’s get this right.” Steelers President Art Rooney II said the league and owners will “take an additional look and get more input” on the measure (WASHINGTON POST, 5/20). NBC's Peter King said the "smartest thing" for the NFL to do is use the coming weeks to "get a more refined and refocused view of what this rule should be, and then re-propose it” during the next meeting in October. NBC's Chris Simms noted the “genius” of the proposal was in the ability to drum up conversation and get people thinking about coming up with “something positive" ("PFT," NBCSN, 5/20).
....BUT IT WILL LOOK DIFFERENT: In N.Y., Charles McDonald notes the idea of teams “receiving higher draft slots in the third round, which are still premium draft picks, for hiring minority coaches or front office members predictably wasn’t a popular idea.” While the league “may go back to the drawing board in order to create incentives for teams to hire minority candidates,” the initial idea “is dead in the water” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/20). In Pittsburgh, Ron Cook noted everyone from Chargers coach Anthony Lynn to Pro Football HOFer Tony Dungy “panned the idea with good reason.” It would have put the “minority who is hired in a tough spot because it would look as if he was given the job in order to get the improved draft picks.” It also “goes against the integrity of the draft and the game” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/20). In Philadelphia, Les Bowen notes some observers “wondered if this was ever a serious proposal, or just an attempt to make the actual changes being considered seem less drastic and therefore less controversial” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/20).
ISSUE PUNISHMENTS ALONG WITH REWARDS: CBSSPORTS.com’s Jonathan Jones wrote what “is missing from Tuesday's developments are greater -- or at least imposed -- punishments.” Team owners have learned they can “touch the stove and not get burnt.” If some owners “were/are interested in rewarding draft picks for doing the right thing, should they not also be intrigued by stripping draft picks for not doing the right thing?” (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/19).
BIENIEMY SEEN AS PRIME EXAMPLE: In K.C., Herbie Teope notes Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy “has been widely regarded as a top candidate for head-coaching jobs,” but he has yet to land one despite “interviewing for at least seven known openings over the past two years.” It will be seen whether this “tweaking of the Rooney Rule might help Bieniemy land a head-coaching job during the league’s next hiring cycle” (K.C. STAR, 5/20). Bieniemy said, “You always want to be judged based upon your own merit.'' However, he “applauded the rule change that allows assistants to have an opportunity to interview for coordinator openings” (ESPN.com, 5/19).
ALL IN WHO YOU KNOW: YAHOO SPORTS’ Terez Paylor wrote these changes “should be, in theory, a step forward for a league that is struggling with diversity.” However, a “significant problem looms on the potential effectiveness of all these measures.” Paylor: “The same people who created the NFL’s diversity problem are the same ones doing the hiring” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/19). ESPN's Domonique Foxworth said, “The point of the rule is not to make minority candidates more attractive than they actually are. The point of the rule is to help decision makers get past whatever biases they have” (“Get Up,” ESPN, 5/20). The ARIZONA REPUBLIC's Moore writes, “We have to eliminate barriers and options: Create a rule that says team owners can’t hire just anybody, formalize the pipeline and make it public” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/20). In Austin, Kirk Bohls writes it is “not wrong to hire someone you’re comfortable with, but it’s a shame that more qualified black assistants don’t get head coaching jobs” (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 5/20).
GOOD START, BUT MORE NEEDED: In Baltimore, Mike Preston writes the announcements were “positive moves by the NFL, but it’s sad and disappointing that this is still an issue in 2020.” It seemed like the league “had moved beyond this at the turn of the century but apparently it didn’t.” Preston: “It’s like the Civil Rights movement where the process has to be forever moving ahead. Once there is complacency, the old ways and errors start to resurface because the predominantly white owners can’t think outside of the box” (BALTIMORE SUN, 5/20). In Minneapolis, Jim Souhan writes, “If you’re not angry about discrimination, you should be angry about so many teams breaking the golden rule of sports. They’re not doing all they can to win.” Bieniemy is the “offensive coordinator of the reigning Super Bowl champs … won with offense.” Souhan: “I wouldn’t want to say that if he were white, he would be a head coach. But if he were white, he’d be a head coach” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 5/20).
