David Culley is one of only two minorities who filled seven coaching openings this yearGETTY IMAGES
The Texans' hiring of Ravens assistant David Culley as coach "marks the end of a frustrating hiring cycle for coaches of color" in the NFL, according to Mike Jones of USA TODAY. Even after the league "sought to strengthen the Rooney Rule in hopes of producing more head coaching candidates," only two minorities (Robert Saleh to the Jets, and Culley) filled seven coaching openings. Culley joins Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and Dolphins coach Brian Flores as the only Black head coaches in the NFL (USA TODAY, 1/28). Fritz Pollard Alliance Exec Management Assistant Larry Lee said, "I'm happy for David, but we still need to look at the overall picture. We're going to continue to try to grow the number and evolve." Lee: "The overall NFL minority hiring scorecard is still an F" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/28).
TRUE COLORS? THE UNDEFEATED's Jason Reid wrote the league's owners "again revealed what's most important to them, and fairness in hiring to lead their football teams didn't make the list." A cycle that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "hoped would result in the NFL significantly improving its poor employment record ... quickly became an indefensible embarrassment for hardworking officials who have diligently pushed owners to finally get on the right side of history." At every step of the way, NFL employees "have been undermined by the people who fund their salaries," and the evidence is "extensive and irrefutable." Reid: "This bears repeating like never before: The NFL is an overwhelmingly Black league. In fact, it has never been Blacker." And yet, the careers of Black assistants "continue to be harmed, perhaps irreparably, by the owners' closed-minded outlook on filling their top-rung coaching positions" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 1/27).
