Rooney Rule adding more interviews

The NFL is amending the Rooney Rule to require more interviews of minority candidates for head coaching and coordinator positions, The Associated Press reported Monday.

Reacting to a lack of diversity progress in hirings for those jobs, the league will require teams to interview at least two minority candidates from outside the organization for head coach openings. At least one minority candidate must be interviewed for a coordinator’s spot.

The rule, named after the late Dan Rooney, who owned the Steelers, was adopted in 2003. It has had some impact, but in the recent spate of coach hirings, few have gone to minority candidates.

During a Super Bowl week news conference, Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that changes were needed to the rule. Those changes are coming now.

Team owners will hold a conference call Tuesday that replaces the scheduled spring meeting in California. They will vote on two proposed resolutions that would allow assistant coaches to be interviewed at any time for coordinators’ jobs elsewhere. The other proposal would use draft pick positioning as an incentive to hire more diverse candidates in the coach and general manager position.

The changes and proposals were first reported by NFL Network.

After the 2018 season, eight head coaches lost their jobs. Only one opening was filled by a minority candidate, Brian Flores with the Dolphins.

Following last season, five jobs came open and one minority, Ron Rivera, was hired, by the Redskins.

The NFL has only two GMs of color, Andrew Berry with the Browns and Chris Grier with the Dolphins.

■ NFL engineers and sports equipment company Oakley are testing prototypes of modified face masks that may contain surgical or N95 material, NFL Players Association medical director Thom Mayer told ESPN. It’s likely the league will use such masks to protect players from the coronavirus when the league returns to play . ... Robert Jerry “Ben” Williams Jr., former Bills defensive end and the first African- American player to appear in a game at Mississippi, died from natural causes. He was 65. Affectionately known as “Gentle Ben,” he was the Rebels’ first black player to earn All-America honors as a first-team selection in 1975, and was also a three-time first team All-Southeastern Conference selection. Williams is Mississippi’s career sacks leader with 37, including a single-season record of 18 in 1973. He was drafted by the Bills in the third round in 1976 and went on to spend his entire 10-year NFL career with the team, amassing 140 starts in 147 games. Williams retired as the Bills’ career sacks leader with 451⁄2 before his record was shattered by Hall of Famer Bruce Smith, who went on to set the NFL career record.

Baseball: The Marlins will allow players on their 40-man roster access to their spring training complex in Jupiter, Florida to pitch off a mound or hit in batting cages beginning Tuesday, The AP reported. The rest of the facility will remain closed.

Golf: The return of live golf to TV brought 2.35 million viewers across all platforms, which NBC Sports said was 16% higher than the final of the Dell Match Play last year. The Taylor-Made Driving Relief from Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida was shown Sunday afternoon through early evening on NBC, Golf Channel, NBCSN, along with NBC Sports and PGA Tour streaming outlets.

NBA: Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic will undergo season-ending surgery Tuesday to repair the scapholunate ligament in his right wrist, ESPN reported. Bogdanovic, 31, averaged 20 points per game before the season was suspended.

Soccer: The Premier League was told by government experts that coronavirus restrictions could endure for at least a year across English football, with players allowed to resume only non-contact training from Tuesday. Team executives will hold talks next week to discuss protocols for allowing players to take part in contact training, but it’s dependent on government approval and there being no new spike in COVID-19 cases after an easing of lockdown restrictions. The league hopes to return to competition next month.