NFL has plan for connection to minorities
Something wasn’t working. Even though the NFL attempted to enhance opportunities for minority candidates to become head coaches in a league whose players are 70% Black, there was a disconnect. Same thing for front office positions, although more improvement had been seen in recent years in that area.
Those diverse prospects in many cases were strangers to the people making the hiring decisions. And when the number of minority head coaches on the 32 teams stagnated — it is six for 2022, including three Black men, one biracial, one Hispanic and one Lebanese — the NFL sought a different path for potential coaches and general managers.
It has come up with the inaugural Coach and Front Office Accelerator that will take place March 30-31 at the owners meetings in Atlanta.
“I think the accelerator is some of the most important work the league and our (diversity) committee will do all year because the potential of the program is exponential,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. “It’s an unprecedented opportunity for emerging leaders, owners and team leadership to get to know each other better over these two days, and the relationships formed in this setting will be integral to future hiring cycles.”
People in the coaching and front office pipeline noted how often their first encounter with an owner or team executive came when they were being considered for a job. That made for some awkward situations — and, probably, some ill-informed hiring decisions.
At the scouting combine in Indianapolis in late winter, league executives discussed the issues with a select number of coaches and general managers who were part of the hiring cycle — some of whom got the jobs and some who did not.
“One of the things clearly stated with passion was, ‘We shouldn’t be in a scenario where the first time I am meeting a club owner is at that interview,’ ” noted Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president, chief diversity and inclusion officer. “There is no relationship there, the two individuals don’t know each other well. That makes it very difficult.
“How can we ensure that not happen often?” The answer could be the acceleration program for which one coaching and one general manager candidate from each of the 32 teams has been selected to attend. Those people range from a former head coach, Vance Joseph, who was in charge of the Broncos from 2017-18, and now is Cardinals defensive coordinator, and Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy — a frequent consideration for head coaching vacancies — to such position coaches as the Jets’ Ron Middleton, the Bills’ Eric Washington and the Cowboys’ Joe Whitt Jr.
There are two women from clubs who will attend, Denver’s Kelly Kleine, the executive director of football operations, and Jacqueline Davidson, Jacksonville’s director of football research.