The NFL may seek to expand the “Rooney Rule” to coordinator vacancies, forcing NFL teams to interview minority coaches for offensive and defensive coordinator vacancies.
According to an ESPN report:
No decision has been made, but the NFL likely will mandate that teams with returning head coaches include minority interviews for coordinator vacancies, hoping to broaden the pool of potential head-coaching candidates, one source said.
Currently, under the “Rooney Rule,” NFL teams must interview at least one minority candidate before hiring a new head coach. While the rule is intended to prevent qualified minorities from being overlooked, this requirement, in recent years, has been a sham as owners who already have a preference for a head coach often interview minority candidates they have no intention of hiring.
This can also be insulting to the minority candidates who go into the interview knowing the owner is intent on hiring another candidate but must interview a minority to meet a bureaucratic requirement.
The NFL said it was “disappointing” that no minority head coaches or general managers were hired this year and is being pressured to make changes to enable more minorities to be hired in the future. The league feels that owners want play-callers to be head coaches and there are not enough minorities calling plays or coaching quarterbacks.
The Indianapolis Colts recently hired former Stanford offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton as their new offensive coordinator–without being subjected to a “Rooney Rule” for coordinators. Hamilton, who is black, will be reunited with Andrew Luck, the Colts quarterback whom he coached in college.
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