Where is the diversity?

Five black NFL coaches lost their jobs in 2018.

Black Monday lived up to its name this week, as the annual day in which NFL coaches are fired is highlighted by the fact that a total of five black coaches lost their jobs in 2018.

In a league that’s approximately 70 percent black, there are only two black head coaches in the league right now, with Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh and Anthony Lynn in Los Angeles (Chargers).

And to make matters worse, Tomlin seems to be on the proverbial hot seat every season, even though he’s the youngest head coach to ever win a Super Bowl, and has a higher winning percentage than every coach that’s come before him in Pittsburgh.

But, this isn’t a column defending all of the black coaches who lost their jobs this season.

It’s one that will shed light on the structure that creates this scenario, and the architects behind it, aka the owners.

In 2006, the owners chose Roger Goodell to work for them and be the commissioner of their league. And for the most part, given all the serious matters the league has fumbled over the years like violence against women, Bountygate, Deflategate, and peaceful protests during the national anthem, it seems as though the owners selected the perfect puppet in Goodell, especially since they re-signed him to an extension in 2017 that will keep in place until 2024.

When Goodell took over 13 years ago, there were a total of seven minority head coaches and four minority general managers in the league.

As of today, there are only two minority head coaches and two minority GMs, and one of them (Ozzie Newsome) will be retiring soon.

There aren’t any black team presidents in the NFL, either.

Now I know some of you are wondering why this continues to happen, especially since the NFL has the Rooney Rule, which was put in place to promote diversity and give minority coaches a chance.

Well, that’s because the Rooney Rule is dead.

And the Oakland Raiders, the franchise that once hired the league’s first black head coach in the modern era, killed it.

On Monday, the Raiders hired Mike Mayock to be their new general manager. Mind you Mayock has no front office experience and was previously a draft analyst for NFL Network who once said he’d take Blaine Gabbert over Cam Newton. But, none of that mattered, because according to reports, Raiders coach Jon Gruden wanted Mayock, and he definitely wasn’t going to let the Rooney Rule stop him.

According to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report, the Raiders reached out to several minority candidates, but in the end it was all for show, as the job was always Mayock’s.

Just last year, Raiders owner Mark Davis basically admitted to hiring Gruden before he fired then-head coach Jack Del Rio. Meaning that, yet again, the interviews that Tee Martin and Bobby Johnson went in for, were all for show.

The Rooney Rule was implemented in 2003 and is a policy that requires every team with a head coaching vacancy to interview at least one or more diverse candidates.

Six years later, the rule was expanded to include general manager jobs and equivalent front office positions. The rule is named after Dan Rooney, the late Steelers owner and chairman of the league’s diversity committee.

Last month, the league announced that the Workplace Diversity Committee presented modifications to strengthen and enhance the Rooney Rule in an effort to show a “commitment” to diversity and inclusion.

“Since the inception of the Rooney Rule, we have seen the rule adopted across business sectors and considered an industry best practice to increase diversity,” Goodell said. “The policy updates made today will bolster the current Rooney Rule requirements and are intended to create additional opportunities for diverse candidates to be identified, interviewed, and ultimately hired when a vacancy becomes available.”

The enhancements to strengthen the Rooney Rule included:

1) Clubs must interview at least one diverse candidate from the Career Development Advisory Panel list or a diverse candidate not currently employed by the club.

2) Clubs must continue best practice recommendation of considering multiple diverse candidates.

3) Clubs must maintain complete records and furnish to the league upon Commissioner’s request.

The NFL’s Workplace Diversity Committee is comprised of owners and executive personnel, while members of the Career Development Advisory Panel are comprised of former football coaches, executives and players.

Of the 15 people on the two committees, only four of them are black. Kevin Warren (Minnesota Vikings) is the lone black voice on the Workplace Diversity Committee. While Dick Daniels, James Harris and Jimmy Raye III serve as members of the Career Development Advisory Panel.

It’s kind of hard to have diversity throughout a league that has a diversity committee that’s not diverse.

‘The updates made today will bolster current Rooney Rule requirements.’ Roger Goodell Commissioner

PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES After three consecutive last-place finishes in the AFC East, the New York Jets fired head coach Todd Bowles on Dec. 30. Bowles went 24-40 in his four seasons at the helm of the Jets.

Steve Wilks led Arizona to a 3-13 record this season and was fired Monday after just one season as head coach. The Cardinals own the first pick in April’s NFL draft.

Marvin Lewis went 131-122-3 in 16 regular seasons as Bengals coach. The longest-tenured head coach in team history went 0-7 in the playoffs.

Vance Joseph, who was fired by Denver on Monday, went 11-21 in his two seasons as head coach of the Broncos.