Diversity in coaching hires remains an issue for NFL owners
TAMPA — When Tony Dungy was a quarterback at the University of Minnesota in 1974, his Golden Gophers were destroyed by Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, who went on to win his first of two Heisman trophies.
“There was no doubt in my mind. He was the best running back in the country,” Dungy said Wednesday. “Ollie Bakken was a senior linebacker on our team and played in the East-West Shrine all-star game. He came back to campus and told us a guy on his team was so much better than Archie Grifffin, it wasn’t even close.
“We said, ‘That’s impossible.’ He said, ‘I’m telling you, Walter Payton [from Jackson State] is unreal.’ The East-West game opened up his universe. Eventually, we all got to see it. But in January 1975, we would’ve drafted Archie Griffin for our fantasy team. He was the best back in college football because that’s all we knew. Same with these [NFL] owners today.”
Only three black head coaches are employed by the NFL, the same number as when the Rooney Rule — which requires NFL teams to interview ethnicminority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs — was adopted in 2003. That number of coaches hasn’t changed with the recent slew of openings.
You don’t have to look any further than Tampa Bay to wonder how in the world Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles didn’t at least merit interviews this year.
On Tuesday, the Carolina Panthers hired Baylor’s Matt Rhule and the Giants chose Patriots receivers coach Joe Judge to become their head coaches. That followed the Cowboys’ hiring of former Super Bowl-winning coach Mike McCarthy and Washington’s selection of former Panthers coach Ron Rivera.
That leaves only one NFL job opening in this cycle: the Cleveland Browns, who were set to interview Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, both white.
Eric Bieniemy, the Chiefs offensive coordinator who is black, also interviewed for the Browns job and two other openings this year. He interviewed for four head coaching vacancies last year, including the Bucs job that eventually went to Bruce Arians.
Rivera is Hispanic, so that at least represents some diversity in the recent hiring spate. But the universe of pro football hasn’t exactly been opened for NFL owners. There is only one black general manager and no black owners.
Look, if you pay what these guys pay for an NFL franchise, you should be allowed to hire the person you think gives your franchise the best chance to win. On the other hand, why is a guy like Bieniemy being overlooked?
For years, what you always heard was that owners were looking for former offensive or defensive coordinators. Bieniemy, a former NFL running back, worked his way up on Andy Reid’s staff from running backs coach to offensive coordinator.
So what do you hear now? He doesn’t call the plays. Guess what? Neither did Eagles head coach Doug Pederson or Bears coach Matt Nagy; both were offensive coordinators on Reid’s staff.
In fact, Leftwich and Bieniemy are the only two black offensive coordinators in the league. There are also only two black quarterbacks coaches. Perhaps
so few opportunities are why only five black head coaches have come from that side of the football.
“It’s up to the owners to figure out what gives them the best chance to win,” Dungy said. “Unfortunately, many have no idea. You can’t fault people for the choices they make. But you can fault them for being uninformed. So the idea behind the Rooney Rule was to give owners information. And that’s the problem.
“Jim Schwartz is getting an interview in Cleveland. He is a good candidate with good credentials. [Bills defensive coordinator] Leslie Frazier is a good candidate with good credentials. He has been a solid DC for three different teams. He’s been a head coach that has taken a team to the playoffs. I’d venture to say there are many owners who wouldn’t know that.
“Matt Rhule has done some very good things in college football. He is certainly a good candidate. He won at Temple and Baylor. James Franklin won at Vanderbilt and at Penn State in the aftermath of their PR disaster. Is he not a good candidate?”
The idea is not to hire a head coach because he is black. It is to give those qualified candidates the same consideration other coaches such as Schwartz and Rhule received.
It’s almost a given that Leftwich, at 39, will be an NFL head coach one day. In his first full season of calling plays, he had the No. 1 passing offense in the NFL and third overall. Fortunately for him, he was a quarterback in the league who was drafted in the first round by the Jaguars and is used to leading a franchise.
Bowles, you could argue, after going 10-6 in his first year with the Jets, never did better than 5-11 the next three years. But Schwartz got five seasons as head coach of the Lions and finished with a 29-51 record and only one winning season.
Jim Trotter, who covers the league for the NFL Network, tweeted the following Wednesday:
“Received this text from an NFL assistant coach who happens to be black: ‘NFL has finally shown it’s not the place for black men to advance. It’s ridiculous, it’s disgusting. We can sell tickets and make plays, but we can’t lead.’ ”
Trotter says this about current hiring climate.
“The lack of black head coaches in the NFL is not a league issue, it’s an ownership issue. Owners are master contortionists when coming up with reasons why we aren’t ‘qualified’ or ‘ready.’ Thirty-two teams: one black GM, three black coaches.”
Dungy was passed over for more than a decade, overlooked twice by the Eagles and once after an interview with the Jaguars. In 1993, Dungy was the coordinator when the Vikings had the No. 1 defense in the NFL, and despite eight head coach openings, he didn’t receive so much as a phone call.
He was the Bucs’ third choice after Florida coach Steve Spurrier and former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson.
The Glazers are among the few owners who have given diversity a chance. They have hired three black head coaches. All three coordinators on Arians’ staff, including special-teams coordinator Keith Armstrong, are black.
But the rest of the league? Well, their universe hasn’t changed much.
“That is what has minority coaches shaking their heads,” Dungy said. “And that’s what owners don’t understand. They have their minds closed to a portion of the universe that might help them.” the