NFL Releases Statement About Lack Of Minority Hirings

By Brad Biggs, National Football Post

Eight head-coaching vacancies and seven general manager jobs have been filled in the NFL since the end of the offseason and not one job has gone to a minority.

The lack of promotion for minority candidates has caused a stir around the league even though the Rooney Rule has been applied in each situation. It has raised concerns, naturally, that the system is not adequately ensuring that minority candidates are given proper consideration for jobs.

The NFL responded today by releasing a statement from Robert Gulliver, the league’s executive vice president of human resources.

"While there has been full compliance with the interview requirements of the Rooney Rule and we wish the new head coaches and general managers much success, the hiring results this year have been unexpected and reflect a disappointing lack of diversity," Gulliver said in the statement. "The Rooney Rule has been a valuable tool in expanding diversity and inclusion in hiring practices, but there is more work to do, especially around increasing and strengthening the pipeline of diverse candidates for head coach and senior football executive positions. We have already started the process of developing a plan for additional steps that will better ensure more diversity and inclusion on a regular basis in our hiring results. We look forward to discussing these steps with our advisers to ensure that our employment, development and equal opportunity programs are both robust and successful."

So, it sounds like additional measures could be put in place soon. This is a story that surely will continue to develop. One of the problems, at least on the coaching side of things, is that there are few minority coordinators. Without a lot of minority coordinators, the pool for head-coaching candidates is not as diverse as it needs to be.