Steelers Owner Art Rooney II Says NFL Is ‘Not Where We Need To Be’ Regarding Black Head Coaches
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II says the NFL’s Workplace Diversity Committee will examine this year’s head coaching hiring cycle and look for solutions as it relates to the dearth of Black head coaches, according to the NFL Network.
Of the 32 teams in the league, only three are led by Black head coaches. There were five available head coaching positions (Browns, Cowboys, Giants, Panthers and Redskins) and none went to a Black candidate.
Two of the five positions (Giants and Panthers) went to coaches with no NFL coordinator level experience, often cited as a prerequisite in becoming an NFL head coach.
"I think where we are right now, is not where we want to be, not where we need to be," Rooney said. "We need to take a step back and look at what's happening with our hiring processes. The first thing we'll do as part of our diversity committee is really review this past season's hiring cycle and make sure we understand what went on and talk to the people involved both on the owner's side, management's side as well as the people that were interviewed. The thing I think we have to look at is back when the Rooney Rule was passed and put in effect in 2003, there was a period there where we did see an increase in minority hiring at the head coaching position. And I think over a period of time there were 10 or 12 minority coaches hired. Since then that trend seems to reverse itself particularly in the last few years. We need to study what's going on and understand better what's going on and really decide how we improve the situation."
Whether it’s conscious or unconscious bias the fact remains, a rule or policy isn’t to change behaviors and attitudes.
The men who make these decisions, like Rooney**, need to “see” the same “intangibles” and have the same “gut feelings” about candidates that don’t look like them.
The reality is qualified Black candidates like Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Dolphins assistant coach Jim Caldwell, and Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich are not viewed in the same way less qualified white candidates are viewed.
That has to change.
“We have about one-third of the coaches in the National Football League are from the minority communities. That's really not a bad pipeline,” Rooney continued. “And so, the question is, why aren't more of those people getting interviews? Why aren't more of those people advancing through the process? Like I said, there are a lot of pieces to it that we have to look at. We have a lot of work to do that."
Why indeed.
*Mike Tomlin is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and one of the three Black head coaches in the NFL. He is the third-longest tenured head coach behind Bill Belichick and Sean Payton.
**Art Rooney is the son of the late Dan Rooney, former owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and chairman of the league's diversity committee, whom the Rooney Rule was named after.
