Black NFL coaches were getting blanked again this offseason, going 0-6 with only three vacancies remaining. But on Sunday evening, the Dolphins hired San Francisco 49er offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.
And that decision reverberated throughout Black Twitter, bringing more questions than celebrations.
You see, many in the media referred to Mike McDaniel as “biracial” and “multiracial”, but never as Black. Yet his father and his father’s family are Black, so how did his identity crisis, or lack of identity crisis, escape notice for so long?
While it wasn’t an issue before, it’s most certainly one now thanks to the systemic racism that’s long plagued the NFL’s head coaching hiring process.
With one Black coach being hired out of 13 in a two-year span, David Culley formerly of the Texans being the lone one, race is at the forefront, and rightfully so. (Note: Lovie Smith has not officially been hired by the Texans as of yet)
What kind of message is being broadcast in a league where over 70% of the league is Black, yet only one man, the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, is the sole Black coach out of 32 teams?
No longer can owners claim that they’re looking to hire “the most qualified” person for the job.
No longer can they stand behind the statement of a Black coach being “a serious candidate.”
The only person qualified, and only serious candidate, in the eyes of NFL owners is white. That can no longer be disputed after the last two years, especially when there are 15 qualified Black head coaching candidates this year.
Last Thursday morning, Byron Leftwich was poised to become the first Black head coach hired in 2022. But that afternoon, Leftwich realized he would be part of a losing organization with a highly criticized owner and GM, the latter whom he refused to work with. He understood that he could easily become the scapegoat for any issues which were sure to arise and rightfully withdrew his name from consideration.
Why? Because he knew Black coaches have shorter leashes and even smaller second chances.
That too is obvious. Just ask Todd Bowles, Anthony Lynn, Leslie Frazier and Raheem Morris.
On Sunday, it appeared that the Miami Dolphins, the team that fired Brian Flores, hired the first Black head coach this year.
But did they?
As the news spread, Black Twitter questioned McDaniel’s Blackness.
He didn’t look Black. He didn’t have Black hair.
Most had never even heard of McDaniel before Miami’s announcement yet now he was in their sights because the media specifically said biracial, multiracial or minority, not Black.
Identity politics manifests itself amongst many athletes with white and Black parents. Many of those athletes identify, or are identified, as Black.
That’s something McDaniel has never appeared to do.
In a story by Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports, we learn about Mike McDaniel’s upbringing.
He was raised by his mother in Colorado, fell in love with football, worked summers with the Broncos, played football at Yale, interned with the Broncos and worked his way up the NFL ladder.
But the most surprising thing learned from that 2021 story was that McDaniel’s father was Black, something no one would ever guess by simply looking at him. He looks more like someone you’d call “dude” instead of “my brother.”
Yet according to him, when he visited his father’s side of the family, McDaniel realized another part of his genetic makeup existed.
“It is surreal when I think about it, but I remember one particular day, walking around and all of a sudden noticing that, ‘Hey, I’m the only fair-skinned person in all these picture frames,’” said McDaniel to Maiocco. “My grandmother on my dad’s side is Black. My dad’s Black.
“I can honestly say up to that point, I hadn’t noticed that I was different in two fields. I was different in that I was multi-racial to the world. But even within my own family, I was different from them. I was just kind of a unicorn.”
That’s a fork in the road that all biracial children face at some point, and it’s up to them to choose the path.
Do they play the middle and claim both sides or do they choose a side?
For McDaniel, it appears that he acknowledged one side while never overtly claiming it.
It’s interesting that he said “fair-skinned” and not white, for he could easily pass as the latter, his physical features humbling any questions surrounding assimilation.
But at a time when Black NFL head coaches are basically extinct, that will most likely change, and swiftly, something the NFL desperately desires.
“He needed to be marked and qualified in a certain way so they [the NFL] can be let off the hook,” said Dr. Tracie Canada, assistant professor of anthropology at Notre Dame. “There’s a reason he’s being called biracial, because the NFL needs him to be identified that way.”
To Mike McDaniel, acceptance into any group was a plus. To him, his identity revolved around football, not skin color. He would discuss it if it came up, but otherwise, he was just Mike McDaniel.
We all know people like that, who can seamlessly float in different circles without having to choose an identity.
But now it appears that McDaniel might be forced to play identity politics due to a system steeped in bias and severely lacking structural change. He’s officially part of that system, so the path to acceptance might need more clarity on his end, especially with the dismal state of Black head coaching representation.
“Mike McDaniel was publicly white until 2021,” tweeted Professor Lou Moore, a history professor at GVSU. “Although he’s visibly white and let everyone think he was white, and everyone thought he was white, the moment he said he had a black grandma and dad, he was no longer white.”
Should Mike McDaniel be considered Black even though he doesn’t express that himself? Is he becoming a victim by allowing others to dictate his racial narrative?
Normally, with one Black parent, most would say, “Oh, he’s Black.”
But Black is more than skin color.
It’s a conscious identity and the way you carry yourself. There are always divisions and definitions of degree in Blackness, where economic and educational backgrounds can lead to disagreements over Blackness. Even where you live can affect perceptions.
Mike McDaniel the head coach, and head coach of color, has been thrust into the eye of the storm raging around the NFL, one that’s been intensified by Brian Flores’ recent lawsuit against the league, the Broncos, Dolphins and Giants.
McDaniel successfully avoided any racial controversy in football, and it hasn’t seemed to impact him negatively.
“Where you came from didn’t matter,” McDaniel said. “What people thought of you to be, perceived you to be, didn’t matter. It was a melting pot, so to speak, from its core.”
But that rationale might quickly evaporate now that he’s a head coach in a league that hamstrings Black head coaching advancement.
Some say he’s not Black, some that he’s not Black enough. Others will point out that he’s never identified himself as Black.
In the end, Mike McDaniel might soon be forced to stand up and say it loud.
