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Analysis: The NFL's 'Rooney rule' was meant to bring diversity to the league's coaching ranks, but it's not working
January 9, 2020

BLOOMBERG

Last year, in the wake of Oakland's search, the NFL tightened the Rooney rule, now requiring that teams interview ethnic minority candidates from outside their organization, Lapchick said. One option to further improve the process would be to expand the Rooney rule to cover hiring for offensive and defensive coordinator positions; those often lead to a head coaching position.

The top source of head coaches in the NFL is the offensive coordinator position, with about 40% of head coaches ascending from that job, according to a Dec. 30 report from the Global Sport Education and Research Lab at Arizona State University that looked at trends from the 2009 season through the end of the 2018 season. During that time, 91% of offensive coordinators hired were white, the study found.

The NFL’s Rooney Rule: When Will Execs Take Coaches of Color Seriously?
January 8, 2020

Alexis Mansanarez

The NFL has seen, at most, only a quarter of its top coaching positions go to people of color in 2011, ‘17 and ‘18. At the end of 2018, there were eight vacancies. Seven went to white coaches. At the end of the 2019 regular season, there were five available. Four went to white coaches.

Rivera was “recycled” and tasked with changing the culture of a tumultuous Washington Redskins franchise. In fact, Rivera’s quick return made him the first non-interim coach of color in Washington’s 87-year history. He accomplished another … impressive (?) or rather sad, ridiculous-this-is-still-the-case feat by becoming one of the few coaches of color to be rehired. According to a recent study by Arizona State University’s Global Sports Institute, exiting white head coaches were hired for other NFL head-coaching positions at twice the rate of head coaches of color: 14.3 percent versus 7.1 percent.

Opinion: This Year’s ‘Black’ Monday Had No Choice But To Be White
December 31, 2019

Carron J. Phillips

Not only is it harder for Black men to get head coaching jobs in the NFL, but they also have to deal with “always being on the hot seat,” and rarely get a second chance to prove themselves. A recent report from the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University and the Paul Robeson Research Center for Innovative Academic & Athletic Prowess at the University of Central Florida College of Business researched just how hard it is for Black coaches to get, and keep, a job.

One of the main culprits has been the disregarding of the Rooney Rule. When Roger Goodell was named Commissioner in 2006, there were a total of seven minority head coaches and four minority general managers in the league.

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