Last year, the NFL embarrassingly only featured one new Black head coach and two head coaches of color in total out of seven open positions. Those jobs went to David Culley of the Texans and Robert Saleh of the NY Jets.
And it’s no irony that they both faced the daunting task of coaching teams that were in desperate rebuilds.
The outcry was swift and well deserved.
It was infuriating that experienced and worthy Black head coaching candidates were never taken seriously despite their credentials and proven track records.
Even the three Black coordinators from the Super Bowl (Eric Bieniemy of the Chiefs and Byron Leftwich and Todd Bowles of the Bucs) were bypassed in favor of new faces or those with lesser credentials.
And they were all white.
The NFL has been taken to task since that time and on Friday they took a step to address the situation by releasing its initial list of minority head coaching candidates it would endorse for openings in 2022.
That list included the following names:
The aforementioned Eric Bieniemy, Todd Bowles and Byron Leftwich. James Franklin (Penn State HC), Leslie Frazier (Assistant HC/Defensive Coordinator, Bills), Vance Joseph (Defensive Coordinator, Cardinals), Jerod May (Inside Linebackers, Patriots), Raheem Morris (Defensive Coordinator, Rams), DeMeco Ryans (Defensive Coordinator, 49ers), David Shaw (Stanford HC) and Mel Tucker (Michigan State HC).
“The league is seeking to eliminate excuses clubs have used for not hiring qualified diverse candidates,” tweeted Jim Trotter. “All but one person on the list is a HC or coordinator and four have previous experience as an NFL head coach.
The NFL works on identifying qualified candidates year-round to help teams keep their eyes on potential new coaches should the need arise.
Now, after a horrible period of results in 2021, they have a magnifying lens on their efforts, so both their list and efforts to promote the aforementioned names must be even stronger.
This is especially true after the recent release of racist and sexist emails written by former Raiders’ head coach Jon Gruden and the resulting firestorm that followed.
With the recent re-focus on, and expansion of, the Rooney Rule, both the NFL and team owners need to do a much better job.
Otherwise, as Jay-Z said, it’s politics as usual.
