South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Passed up: QB coaching jobs missing minorities
Stepping-stone position to NFL head coaching gigs has just 2 Black coaches
The scouting report on Justin Herbert when he entered the draft out of Oregonwas he had the tools to succeed as an NFL quarterback but would need some time to become more refined with the intricacies of the position.
Thrust into the starting role far earlier than expected because of an injury to Chargers starter Tyrod Taylor, Herbert isonpace for themost prolific season ever for a rookie.
One of the coaches most responsible for that transformation also could help the NFL in its quest to develop more minority coaches.
Pep Hamilton joined the Chargers as one of the league’s two Black quarterback coaches this past offseason and could one day become a candidate for a much more consequential job.
“I havenodoubt thatPepHamilton can be a head coach in this league. He’s had a tremendous impact on Justin. That’s why I brought him here,” said the Chargers’ Anthony Lynn, one of four minority head coaches in the NFL. “He’s a guy that can relate to people. He’s a good communicator, very intelligent. I’m veryhappy that he’sonstaff, andIwas fortunate to get him.”
The most recognizable and recent trend in hiring NFL head coaches has been to target young, innovative offensive teachers with a track record of development for the most vital position on the team. This has made the quarterbacks coach one of the most reliable stepping stones for aspiring head coaches in the league.
With minorities making up fewer than 10% of quarterbacks coaches in the past decade in the NFL, that pipeline has played a role in a lack of minority head coaches despite a desire from the league for more diversity. In the past five offseasons, nearly three-quarters (73%) of new head coaches have come from an offensive background, with twothirds of them (16 out of 24) having served as quarterbacks coaches in the NFL earlier in their careers.
Only two of those 24 offensiveminded head coaches— Hue Jackson and Lynn— wereminorities.
With no signs of a reduced interest in offensive-minded head coaches, the key for more diversity might be getting more minorities into that stepping-stone job of QB coach.
“You deal with the quarterback every day and you get them ready to play, and you knowhowto call games according to their strengths and what they see,” said Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, whose first coaching job in the NFL was as quarterbacks coach for the Super Bowl champion 49ers in the 1994-95 season. He wound up working 10 years as a head coach for two teams, a tenure shortened by health concerns.
“I think dealing with those quarterbacks every day is a big, big plus,“Kubiak said. “I look at some of these guys who have worked for me in the past, and they have all come along that path. I think it’s extremely important coming up as an offensive guy.”
Kubiak served as an offensive adviser for the Vikings last season, with Kevin Stefanski directing his scheme as the offensive coordinator. Now the 38-year-old Stefanski is in charge of the Browns, one of 13 current head coaches in the league whowere once a quarterbacks coach. That doesn’t include Kliff Kingsbury (Cardinals) and Matt Rhule (Panthers), who previously held that particular position for college teams.
Eight of them were hired within the last five years: Stefanski, Zac Taylor (Bengals), Matt LaFleur (Packers), Frank Reich (Colts), Matt Nagy (Bears), Kyle Shanahan (49ers) and Doug Pederson (Eagles). So many of these coaches picked to supervise quarterbacks once played the position at a major college or for an NFL team themselves, with Pederson and Reich to name two.
Since the start of the 2010 season, therehave been 109 different quarterbacks coaches across the 32-team league, several of them holding the same job formultiple teams over that span.
Only 10 of those individuals are minorities.