Rethinking The Rooney Rule

There have been growing pains as the NFL tries to implement the rule. But with the league on the right track, it’s not time to slow down.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin watches on as his team competes against the Cleveland Browns on Jan. 3, 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin watches on as his team competes against the Cleveland Browns on Jan. 3, 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Gregory Shamus via Getty Images

As word spread quickly in January of 2007 that Mike Tomlin would be the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, no one needed to explain the significance of the move to Steve Jackson. Then a safeties coach with the Washington Redskins, Jackson was among the many African-American assistants rooting for Tomlin to get the job. Just a few years earlier, Tomlin, who had just completed his first season as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator, probably wouldn’t have been on the short list for one of the most prestigious coaching gigs in professional sports. But under the Rooney Rule, times were changing.

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Ryan Coogler | Director and Co-Founder of Black Out For Human Rights

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