When looking for coaching job, Eugene Chung says he was told he wasn’t ‘the right minority’
BOSTON—Whenformer Patriots offensive tackle Eugene Chung was pursuing an NFL coaching job this offseason, a comment made by one of his interviewers struck a chord. As Chungsoldhimself,running throughhisaccolades,experience, and everything he could bring to the organization’s staff, the interviewer interjected.
“It was said to me, ‘Well, you’re really not a minority,’ “Chung recalled.
Chung, who is Korean, froze.
“Iwaslike,‘Waitaminute. The last time I checked, when I looked in the mirror and brushed my teeth, I was a minority,’ “he said. “So I was like, ‘What do you mean I’m not a minority?’ “
The interviewer responded, “You are not the right minority we’re looking for.”
Chung was dumbfounded.
“That’s when I realized what the narrative was,” Chung said. “I was blown away, emotionally paralyzed for a split second. I askedmyself,‘DidIhearthat correctly?’ “
He asked the interviewer to elaborate. The question,
Chung says, was rhetorical because he already knew what the interviewer was implying.
“I asked about it, and as soon as the backtracking started, I was like, ‘Oh no, no, no, no, no, you said it. Now that it’s out there, let’s talk about it,’ “he said. “It was absolutely mind-blowing to me that in 2021, something like that is actually a narrative.”
Theremarkwasshocking andheartbreakingtoChung, who has multiple years of NFL coaching experience andisworkingtobecomethe league’s first Asian-American head coach.
Chung was joined by fellow Asian Americans Michele Steele of ESPN and Olympic figure skater Alex Shibutani on a Zoom webinarThursdaytodiscusstheir experiencesasAsianAmericans in the sports world. It was hosted by the Globe and moderated by columnist Shirley Leung as part of the Leadership Lunch Series presented by UBS.
TheNFLhasattemptedto address its lack of diversity, instituting—andupdating— the Rooney Rule to mandate thatorganizationsinterview at least two minority candidates for head coaching and coordinator openings.